Notorious
by ZombieAxeHero
Summary: Revenge can take a man a long way...especially when that man was Fox McCloud's former rival. His life story is finally revealed, from his childhood to the formation of the elusive Star Wolf and everything in between. He suffered and burned for nearly every action he took, and in the end...was it was worth it? Wolf O'Donnell was no hero, but he didn't have to be one to be notorious.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

I am well-known throughout the entire Lylat System as a very dangerous yet respectable man. I can assure you that I'm both, but I am both only when I want to be. People have spread a lot of rumours about me over the years, some of them true, some of them false yet interesting…and most just plain stupid.

Here's an example: "I heard that he tried to slit James McCloud's throat and James poked his eye out." No…just no. I would never do anything to harm James McCloud, nor him to harm me. That's the real problem: people make assumptions about me without even getting to know me first. That's not how I met James McCloud and that's not how I lost my eye, though I will admit they got one thing right: those two events happened within minutes of each other.

You wanna hear about it? Heh...yeah, I thought you might.

My rise to galactic infamy didn't take me too long, but did you know that my recruitment into one of the most lethal mercenary teams ever conceived was because of a personal quest? No. I bet you didn't. People think my teammates are just people that volunteered to work with me or people that had no better job to get. That's not true…well, not for most of them, anyway.

People think I hated Fox McCloud back then. No, I didn't. Not completely, at least. Was I angry when he defeated me that first time? Well, yeah. People get angry when they don't get their way, so you probably would be, too… unless you're the kind of sick freak that ENJOYS getting beaten around the bush. After letting it sink in, though, I was impressed by him. My battles before my first encounter with him toughened me up beyond my years and I still couldn't beat him. Is it any small wonder that I thought he was incredibly gifted?

The point I'm trying to get across is that no one really knows anything about you or the people you've come to love and care about until you tell them yourself. The rumours have gone on long enough. I'm here now to tell you my life story and finally set the record straight.

My life of infamy began (naturally) when I was a child. My mother and father were taken away from me in the wickedest way it could have happened. The man responsible was and still is my eternal nemesis even though he's been…how should I put this…"dealt with". I will never forgive him for the pain he has caused me and others like me, but there is no sense dwelling on it after this. Hopefully once I get this story of my chest, I'll never have to think about that cold-blooded bastard ever again and just let him waste away in the depths of Hell. In all seriousness, though it might not sound comforting to say, he belongs there.

Let's begin, shall we?

Call me what you will...call me infamous, call me notorious. Or call me as I am...

Wolf O'Donnell.

* * *

_**And so it begins...sort of. Just like the intro for Subspecies, though, that's all I have for now. Run with it for as long as you can.**_


	2. 1: Growing Up on the Edge of Hell

CHAPTER ONE

**Growing Up on the Edge of Hell**

**May 12****th****, 2016**

**Brimstone Quarry B-1, Planet Macbeth**

The young lupine's eyes slowly fluttered open at the sound of crunching gravel, and he sat up to reach for the light switch. Even when he managed to find it and flick it on, it didn't illuminate the stone room very well. If it were nighttime, you would only be able to see the outlines of everything in the room unless you had your face pressed up against it. One might consider this horrible, but the boy and his family had lived in the house for as long as he could remember, so he'd gotten relatively used to it.

He looked around and saw that he was the only one in the dingy little excuse for a house. Again, he'd gotten used to this. His parents needed to get up at ridiculously early hours to make it to their jobs on time. They often never even got the chance to say goodbye to him before they had to leave. That said, there was nothing preventing him from going to see his father at work since the place where he worked wasn't too far away, and that was even part of his daily routine. He got plenty of exercise this way and it managed to get him out of the house so he could see what was going on at the time.

"Well, Wolfie Boy, what's up with you?" he muttered to himself with a quick smirk. "Eleven years old and nothin' to do but go see Dad? Sounds good to me."

The boy vaulted himself off of his bed and ran out the door into the hot and dusty air. He shielded his eyes from the sun for a brief moment until they adjusted, then picked up his pace and continued running. He didn't like this planet. He didn't like that he'd lived here all his life, he didn't like that he'd probably grow up to have the same exhausting and boring job his father did, and he absolutely loathed the thought of having to work for the same man his parents did. Nonetheless, he didn't complain. He couldn't, really. There wasn't anywhere else his family could go.

Finally, after climbing the last of the rocky hill, he arrived at the quarry he'd been looking for with several middle-aged men either chipping away at the stone walls of the trench they stood in or loading the rocks they uncovered into mine carts that zipped away seconds afterwards. One of the men looked up and smiled.

"Well, if it isn't little Wolf O'Donnell!" he beamed.

"Good morning, John. Is my dad around?"

A pair of strong hands grabbed Wolf from behind and heaved him up onto the shoulder of their smiling owner.

"I'm always around for you, my boy." Rodrick O'Donnell said.

"Good morning, Dad!" Wolf replied happily.

"Good morning to you, too, son."

Rodrick knew of the dangers of letting an eleven-year old boy come to a mining facility, but it more than made his day to see his son's smiling face. It was one of the two things he could really look forward to, the other being his wife coming home from her job that was arguably worse than his.

"Didn't really pick a good day, though." he said suddenly. "The Big Cheese is coming down for an inspection in a few hours."  
"You didn't do something bad, did you, Dad?"

"Of course not. No one has, but we all know he'll find something and really tan our hides for it."

What he meant to say was "That snotty son of a bitch is bound to sniff something out and have our asses for it." He resisted saying it because A: he didn't want to curse in front of his son, and B: he and the rest of the B rank workers were constantly monitored, so anything they did and said would be seen and heard by someone in a higher position at the end of the day, and they all knew what that led to. They were watched from the minute they started working to the minute they stopped, and they only got a break during lunch hour or when they had to go to the bathroom. Top it off with a dictator-like boss, and boom. You had one of the top five shittiest jobs this side of Lylat.

"Dang it…" Wolf muttered. "Can I help?"

Rodrick laughed.

"You sure? We're doing diamonds today, and I still remember you collapsing from exhaustion that day we did the emerald excavation."

"Yeah, but I've gotten stronger since then! I can do it!"

"Well, alright, but the second you start getting tired, you stop, okay?"

"Okay!"

"John, throw me that spare pickaxe, would ya?"

Once Wolf found the pressing yet bearable weight of the pickaxe in his hands, he jumped down into the trench alongside his father and slammed one end into the rocky surface, somehow managing to work at the same pace as the more experienced and actually paid workers.

"Look at that, boys." John chuckled. "This job's so mindless that a kid can do it."

"Hey, Max!" called another worker named Fergus. "Flip on some tunes, yeah?"

The younger-looking worker Fergus had called kicked the radio by his foot to get it started (since any efforts to talk the boss into getting them a better one were either ignored or threatened with a pay drop). It flickered to life once he had done this enough times, and what lovingly greeted the workers with none other than the legendary Earth rock band Aerosmith and their song "Livin' On the Edge". Once it had kicked up, the men started working not only harder, but also happier. They even began to sing once they had gotten into it, and they were surprised to see that Wolf was indeed up to the task that he had volunteered for.

Digging deep into the rock, Wolf pulled his pickaxe loose and caused a small hunk of glittering rock to drop into his hand. He tossed it up to one of the other workers and kept going, not even stopping to take a quick breather. It was not only impressive to the more experienced workers, but amazing, and that was to say the least of it. When empowered enough, a child could do something an adult would need an immense amount of experience to do simply because they believed they could do it. Perhaps it was this kind of thing that the workers needed to get through each individual day.

Of course, there had to be something to break this happy mood, and it ironically seemed to happen just as the song was ending. A pickup hovercraft sped across the barren landscape towards the trench, and the second the workers saw it, they scrambled out of the trench.

"Stay down!" Rodrick quickly hissed to Wolf.

Wolf obeyed, dropped the pickaxe and crouched down into the shadows of the trench, though not before seeing what his father had warned him about not even a full minute after he had arrived. He caught a split second glance of the driver of the vehicle and then pulled back down.

Out of the hovercraft stepped Kodek Ramero, the owner of the Macbeth Quarries and probably one of the most respected businessmen in the Lylat System…well, respected and feared, at least. Feared by his workers and enemies, respected by just about everyone else.

Wolf knew very little about this man, but he knew enough to know that he was nothing short of a bastard. The funny thing about it was that physically, he was a twig compared to a lot of his workers. Take, for example, Wolf's father. Rodrick was thirty-four years old and clocked in at a height of 6'1" and a weight of 172 pounds. Ramero by comparison was in his mid-to-late forties, weighed about 160 pounds and was 5'11". To conclude, Rodrick could have Ramero on the ground in about two minutes…at least, Wolf believed so since his father was like a god to him. The issue was that Ramero never went anywhere without at least two of his A rank workers, who were not only paid more than B rank, but also weren't monitored and had much nicer living quarters. Therefore, they could slack about all day and not get any work done, and yet still make over twice as much as someone in B rank who worked their hands to the bone. Relating back to Ramero, despite looking somewhat threatening (with a chiseled face, short goatee-like beard and muscles the size of softballs), he didn't do any of the dirty work and simply let his cronies handle the situation. Wolf already hated him from this knowledge, but it got even worse when it came down to his parents.

The workers all stood in silence and without expression as Ramero walked by them. He sneered at them as though they were the scum of the ground he stood on, with them thinking that it was the exact opposite. The two A rankers with him both gave the B rankers haughty grins as if saying "You're in deep shit now, vermin." Needless to say, these looks made a few of them want to step forward and give all three a good shot to the face, but they resisted. Then Ramero stopped in front of Rodrick.

"O'Donnell?" he said suddenly. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"What do you mean?" Rodrick replied, doing his very best not to sound angry or scared.

"I mean you know better than to bring a little kid to a place like this."

Rodrick only had time to growl "Son of a bitch…" under his breath before Wolf was violently pulled out of the trench by one of Ramero's cronies. Wolf himself thrashed all about in his grasp to try and get loose, but despite being strong for a kid his age, he wasn't a match for the mindless drone that dragged him out by the collar of his shirt.

"Let me go! You're hurting me!" he yelled.

Ramero smirked.

"Little Wolf, I presume. I must say you're nothing short of a chip off the old block if I may be so blunt. Seems to be muscle over mind as is the case with all O'Donnells."

Wolf bit his lip and angrily pulled his captor's hand off of him. From the way he often overheard Rodrick come home grumbling under his breath sometimes, he could only imagine that this was the subject matter that made Rodrick hate Ramero the most. Even worse was that the scrutiny of Wolf and his family didn't stop there. It just shifted to his father.

"This is your last warning, O'Donnell. If he ever shows up and impedes your work again, your salary's getting halved, you got that?"

"Haven't you done that a billion times already, you old geezer…" Rodrick grumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good. I don't need the little rat getting hurt and you missing a day of work bawling over it."

"Little rat?!" Wolf shouted. "Why, you…"

Before Wolf could step forward and start taking futile swings at the man who had deliberately insulted him, Rodrick stepped forward and jabbed his finger into his superior's shoulder.

"Alright, look, Ramero…"

"Get your filthy paws off of him, B ranker!" one of the A rankers started as he advanced on Rodrick with a standard-issue nightstick raised.

John and Fergus stepped forward and blocked the way.

"Zip it, pretty boy. This ain't any of your business." John said menacingly.

With a quick nod to his friends, Rodrick turned his attention back to Ramero.

"I can put up with you calling me one of the worst workers you have and docking my pay so much that I can barely survive, but I will stand to here you call anyone close to me a rat, especially not my son. So help me, if you call him that again, I will snap your neck where you stand!"

Ramero scowled at being threatened by one of his lowly workers.

"Maybe you've forgotten that I'm your boss. Talk to me like that again and I'll have you and your wife booted out of your jobs before you could say 'police brutality'."

"Bad comparison, mac!" Max called from a good distance away. "Even the most corrupt cop in the world isn't as sadistic as you!"

Ramero shot him a glance of pure venom.

"I happen to own one of the most profitable companies in the System and you think you can call me lower than a worthless gumshoe that gets paid to strip search hobos and crackheads?"

"And you consider that a pervert?" Fergus chuckled. "Your head whore is half your age, bro!"

All the workers and even Wolf began laughing hysterically while Ramero gritted his teeth and flushed bright red. The A rankers were about to step forward when he blocked them with his hand.

"Don't bother." he said aloud to make sure all the workers heard him. "We'll see how they like it when their salaries are halved."

"Pfft!" John scoffed. "We're already miles below the galactic average. What have we got to lose?"

"Plenty. Pray I don't decide to take that, too."

Ramero turned on his heel and motioned for his cronies to follow, both of whom gave the workers evil glares before following their boss. They drove away the instant they got back into the hovercraft, leaving the men to get back to work.

"Yeah, you and what army, asshole?" Max muttered.

"Dude, come on. That's just wishful thinking." Fergus shot back.

"Why's that?"

"He has an army!"

"You mean those little sticks that sit on their butts every day while we actually get work done and could fuckin' bench-press them?"

"…you got it, man. You got it."

Rodrick sighed and beckoned to Wolf.

"I think you oughta go home now, sport. Kodek is certainly the last one I'd take advice from, but he's at least right this one time."

"But Dad, I wanna help!"

"Hey, just coming to see me today helped me. It helped all of us. Now help us some more by going home and staying safe, okay?"

"Dad, why do you put up with him if all he does is treat you and the others like crap?"

"Where did you learn that word?"

"From Max."

Rodrick smirked and rolled his eyes. Max was probably the most immature out of all the B rankers, but then again, that seemed to be the trait that made him so lovable Nevertheless, he looked into Wolf's eyes with the sternest gaze he could have given.

"We'll talk about when I get home tonight, okay? Run along now."

Wolf hesitated, wanting to help Rodrick and his friends with at least some of this backbreaking work. However, he also didn't want to disobey his father and probably get him in trouble again. He heaved a sigh and trudged back the way he came, never once letting Ramero slip from his mind. Why did that man enjoy making these guys' lives miserable, his father in particular? Was it some kind of personal vendetta? That may have been it. After all, Rodrick was apparently the only B ranker that was married and had a child.

No…Wolf wasn't stupid. He could figure it out easily. While it was true that Ramero always paid B rankers very poorly, it was a special case with the O'Donnell family. It wasn't what Rodrick had done to make Ramero loathe him. It was what Wolf's mother Nina had done.

Nina worked as one of the several female attendants in Ramero's private quarters, and while she was paid better than Rodrick, her job was arguably worse having to constantly deal with Ramero not only calling her a bitch about every other minute, but also badmouthing Rodrick. This had seemingly stemmed from Ramero offering Nina the chance to sleep with him since she was one of the prettiest of all the attendants despite being in her early 30s. She had refused for three reasons. The first was that she was already married, the second was that he was also already married, and the third was that she found him utterly revolting, especially in comparison to Rodrick.

Wolf smirked. Those were the exact words since he had heard Nina tell this story to Rodrick one night when they thought he was sleeping…except there had been a great deal of cussing to go along with it.

"Hey, if a sleazebag like him made that kind of offer to any other girl, I bet they'd be pretty pissed off, too."

**Later that night…**

Rodrick had arrived home a little earlier than usual, though still was back long before Nina. He sat down on Wolf's bed and the two began to have the talk he promised earlier, and it got quite heated.

"I know you don't like Kodek, sport. Heck, me and the rest of the boys wish the guy would just up and die already, but that's just wishful thinking on our parts. The truth is that your mother and I need these jobs because there's no alternative. There aren't any other paying jobs on Macbeth and we can't afford to leave. We can't even afford to be put in a cargo hold."

"But he treats you and the rest of the guys so unfairly! What's wrong with him?!"

"He's just given in to one of life's biggest flaws: greed. He wants to make as much money as possible and give as little as possible. He's just one of those people that you can't get through to sport. A lot of people say that no one is truly evil, just misguided. Unfortunately…that's not true. I guess he's trying to convince himself that he's doing everyone some good, and that seems to have taken effect. No one can touch him."

Wolf looked down at his feet in sorrow.

"It's not fair…we work hard and get the most done. Why do we get treated like this? I don't want to live like this, and neither do you and Mom!"

Rodrick sighed, but acknowledged that Wolf was right. This was a horrible way for them or anyone to live. The fact that they didn't have any other choice but to live this way made him both angry at himself and sorry for his wife and son who had to live in it with him.

Thankfully, an idea had suddenly sprung into his head, forcing a clever grin onto his face. Wolf adopted a look of confusion before his father turned to him.

"What is it, Dad?" Wolf asked.

"I think I just came up with the most ridiculous idea ever." he replied. "But don't worry about it. You get some sleep now, alright?"

"Okay. G'night, Dad."

Rodrick hugged Wolf once last time before tucking him into bed.

"Don't worry. Your old man's gonna make sure you get a better life than this." he whispered before getting up and leaving the room.

Wolf turned over and stared out the nearby window at the starry sky. What did Rodrick mean when he said "the most ridiculous idea ever"? Whatever it was, it was sure to get him into a heap of trouble with Ramero, but then again, standing still for a nanosecond too long would get you in trouble with him.

Nevertheless, Wolf stayed awake to ponder these thoughts, though his ears pricked up when he felt someone gently place their hand on his cheek. He smiled and turned over to hug his mother who had just returned home. Something strange Wolf found about Nina was that she never seemed to walk into a room. She just appeared in it when you weren't looking like an angel or something, further emphasized by her beautiful face. Either way, it was still a brilliant way to greet her loved ones, especially Wolf.

"So what happened today, sweetheart?" she asked in her soft and misty voice.

"Ramero really let Dad have it today."

"Yes, he seemed a little extra angry with me, too. He called me the B word about…hmm, I think it was eighteen times today. A new record, if I'm right."

Wolf laughed while Nina gave him an adorable smile.

"Why aren't you asleep, darling? Is something wrong?"

Wolf's happiness faded away and he looked away from his mother's eyes for a brief moment.

"I…I hate it here. It wouldn't be so bad if Ramero would stop bullying you and Dad all the time."

Nina stroked Wolf's cheek and lay beside him.

"Would you like me to sing for you?"

"…okay."

Despite Wolf being eleven and was thus a little too old for it, he still loved to hear his mother sing him lullabies, and that was precisely what she did. Her singing voice was as calm and soft as her speaking voice, but Wolf didn't care. She still sounded wonderful, and just as they had both hoped, Wolf eventually found himself drifting off to sleep. Once she had finished singing, Nina smiled and kissed her son's forehead.

"I'll always be with you, dear one."

* * *

_**Not really an explosive start, I'll admit, but let me assure you that'll change next chapter...you can probably guess how.**_

_**I have a question for the fans of my previous Star Fox stories. After playing some Nintendo and Capcom games I haven't tried before (EarthBound, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, DmC: Devil May Cry, Mega Man 2 and Okami just to name a couple), I've come up with some great ideas. So here's the question: would you guys like it if I did a Nintendo and Capcom crossover story similar to something like Marvel vs. Capcom? I think I've found a way to even link it to my Star Fox stories, so be sure to leave your thoughts in the reviews if you have something to say about it.**_

_**And yeah, I like DmC: Devil May Cry. Problem, officer?**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR (yep, doin' this again)**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra


	3. 2: Pain Unlike Any Other

_**WARNING**_

_**Y'know the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones? Yeah...warning, indeed.**_

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

**Pain Unlike Any Other**

"Wolf! Nina! Wake up!"

Wolf sat up in fright at the sudden noise, his eyes darting all about the room for a few moments before they settled on Rodrick.

"What's going on, Dad?!" he sputtered.

"You know how I said I was gonna make sure you got a better life than this? I finally got our ticket to it."

Nina yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Rodrick, what are you talking about?"

"We're leaving this Godforsaken planet behind once and for all. C'mon, you two, let's go. I'll explain on the way."

Only the stars were there to light the way as Rodrick led them down the cliffs. It was only once they could see the lights of the A rank facility below that Wolf knew what was going on.

"We aren't supposed to be here, Dad! They'll shoot us on sight!"

"Hold up!"

The three stopped moving and pressed themselves against the wall they stood by as a searchlight from the facility scanned across the landscape. Wolf bit his lip when the light came dangerously close to shining on them and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it slowly move away. Once it was far enough, Rodrick led the way as the three of them ran to the facility wall.

"Max and John managed to secure a freighter headed for Fortuna. If we manage to get to it without getting spotted, we'll be home free."

"But Rodrick, what if we get caught?" Nina asked in a concerned tone.

Nina had to cover her mouth to keep herself from yelping once a voice had spoken from behind here.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Mrs. O'Donnell. We've got everything under control."

Nina furrowed her brow and turned to face the speaker before giving him an light slap across the face.

"Dammit, Fergus! Don't scare me like that!"

"Shh! We'll have to knock out the guards before we can get any further. Rod, you and I'll go through the west entrance. John and Max have got the east. The rest of the guys will be waiting for the signal. Wolf and Nina, you two stay here and keep quiet. If you see anyone coming, stick to the shadows and get as far away as you can."

"But…what about you guys?" Wolf asked in a worried tone.

Fergus smiled and patted Wolf on the head.

"We're takin' one for the team here, little man. You're young and you've got your whole life ahead of you. You don't deserve to spend it all here in this dump."

"Alright, let's go!" Rodrick hissed. "There isn't much time!"

Rodrick and Fergus darted off to the west side of the wall while Nina and Wolf remained behind, the latter frantic with worry.

"Dad…please be safe."

Rodrick and Fergus pressed their backs against the west wall and peeked inside. In total, there were only five guards patrolling the area if you could even call it that. It seemed more like they were sleeping standing and occasionally waving their guns around like drunken idiots. How these guys were A rankers was anyone's guess, but that didn't matter now. Even though they were half-asleep, trying to sneak up behind them was two risky since two were stationed at one opening while the two were stationed at the other one and the fifth one was standing around in the center. They would be spotted the second they stepped out into the open.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Rodrick asked.

"Hell no. I've never done this before."  
"So we're leaving the whole thing up to John and Max, then."

"Not a chance."  
"Then what do we do?"

Fergus peeked over the corner to check how close the guards were, and then lightly knocked on the metal wall. The two closest guards stirred for a moment before looking around for the source of the noise. Fergus knocked again. The two guards turned toward the opening and began walking toward it, and judging from how the guards furthest from them were also walking away, they could only assume that Max and John were using the same strategy. The second the two guards were close enough, Rodrick and Fergus seized them, covering their mouths so they couldn't call out for help and pinned one arm behind their backs so they couldn't use their guns properly. Afterwards, the two men brought up their knees, bent the guards backwards and hit them sharply on the head, rendering them unconscious.

The fifth and final guard looked all around after shaking himself out of his half-asleep state and grew a worried expression upon seeing that he was the only one left.

"Guys?!" he called. "I-if this is a joke, it ain't funny…and I know funny!"

He froze for a brief moment when he heard footsteps coming toward him and spun around just in time to see Rodrick and Fergus pointing the guards' guns at him.

"Drop it, kid." Rodrick warned.

The guard obeyed and kept his hands up afterwards. He yelped when Max and John came up behind him and continued to panic when they began to tie him up.

"What the hell are you doing to me?!" he demanded.

"Can't have you go running off and telling the principal if you know what I mean." Max growled.

"You're not gonna get away with this, you B ranker scum! Ramero'll make sure you're all gutted and have your heads mounted on his wall…your wife and kid especially, O'Donnell!"

"You snotty little son of a…"

Max angrily pointed the gun at the guard's head and was about to pull the trigger when…

"Max, don't!"

Max turned to see Wolf standing there with a pleading look in his eyes, Nina coming up behind him soon after. Max furrowed his brow.

"You heard what he said, Wolf! This little shit's got no respect for anyone but himself!"

Wolf looked at the guard for a few seconds before looking back at Max. It was true that what the guard said shouldn't go without punishment, but that didn't mean he had to be killed for it.

"He's not worth it. Save it for someone who's actually worth killing."

The guard didn't know what to think. On one hand, he was relieved to know that the kid was telling his attacker not to kill him, but he was also insulted that a kid would essentially call him worthless. Nevertheless, he didn't get another chance to protest as John put a gag in his mouth and hid him in a dark corner where he couldn't move.

"Okay, there's the freighter." John said, motioning to his left. "We'll have to blink the searchlights. The rest of the guys should be here a little while after."

The four men ran over to the switches in the corners where each searchlight was stationed and pulled them down for a moment before pushing them back up. In response, the lights turned off for a moment before turning back on.

"And now we wait…and pray to God that more of these guys don't show up." Rodrick sighed.

Wolf looked at the freighter that John had pointed out. It wasn't as large as he thought it would be, but it was certainly big enough to hold all of the workers. Besides, it wasn't the ship itself that was making him anxious. It was what the ship was going to do for him. It would take him and his family off this planet. They'd be able to start new lives without having to fear about Ramero ever trying to abuse them again. He could live how he wanted instead of being forced into something he didn't want.

Nina noticed Wolf and smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Excited?" she asked.

"Yeah…to say the least."

Nina chuckled and kissed Wolf's cheek.

"So what are your plans for your new life?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want to do with your life? Dad and I aren't always going to be around, so you need to make sure you can get a job that can support you and a girl that'll want to be with you for the rest of her life."

"I don't know. I never really thought about it…I guess there wasn't really a point in thinking about it before, but…I'm sure I'll figure it out someday."

"That's good, but you must remember that what's important about life is that you have to live it. You can't always wait around for something to happen, but you can't always run away from something that you need to become stronger."

Wolf smiled up at his mother.

"How do you know all this stuff, Mom?"

"They're things that your father and I asked ourselves before we met each other. They're questions that people find answers to over time, so it's best not to stress out about them too much. As long as you keep going on, nothing can stop you from eventually finding the answers you seek."

Before long, the rest of the B rankers began to crowd into the facility and run into the freighter.

"Well, sport," Rodrick said happily. "Looks like you got your wish. Now what do you say? You ready to move on from this place?"

Wolf nodded.

"Yes. Let's leave Macbeth and never come back!"

"That's the spirit!"

The three climbed into the freighter with John climbing into the thankfully empty cockpit and taking the steering control. As the ship lifted off the ground and up into the air, the O'Donnell family found themselves drifting off to sleep in each other's arms, dreaming of the life that lay ahead of them. Little did they know that Max and Fergus were discussing something somewhat unnerving a few feet away.

"We're finally outta this dump, Max! So where do you think the two of us should go? I hear Aquas is real nice this time of the year."

"Yeah, uhh…Fergus?"

"What?"

"I don't know, but…something's not right here. Doesn't it feel like we got to the freighter a little too easily?"

* * *

After several minutes of Wolf and his family peacefully sleeping, the jolt sent through the ship as it started to descend woke them and the other workers up. All of them began to look around in confusion and murmuring amongst themselves.

"Why are we going down?" Nina asked. "There's no way we can be there yet."

Rodrick got up and looked out the window to see where they were. Maybe they were stopping for a fuel refill or they were landing so John could switch drivers…but no, that couldn't be it. These freighters could go light-years without having to refill on gas and they had an autopilot feature. What the hell was going on?!

Then he saw it: all the ship had done was circle around the planet a few times to get the passengers to think that they were actually going somewhere, when now they were right back where they had started and they were swarms of A rankers there with guns. Not only that, but Ramero himself was there with an evil smirk on his face and his arms crossed. This whole plan had been a setup!

Rodrick ran to the cockpit and started pounding on the door.

"John! Get us out of here!" he yelled. "They're below us!"

No response.

"John? Are you listening to me?! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!"

John had clearly heard him as he looked over his shoulder and stared Rodrick right in the face. To Rodrick's horror, all John did was smirk and raise his middle finger at him before continuing their descent.

"You unbelievable son of a bitch…"

The second the cargo hold opened when they landed, every single one of the A rankers came surging in, grabbing the shocked passengers and chucking them out into the dirt. One of them wrestled Wolf from Nina's grasp, and the second Rodrick saw what was going on, he let out a loud roar and ran straight for him. He jumped and tackled the A ranker to the ground, savagely striking him across the face until he was violently pulled off and thrown to the ground, with Nina be thrown beside him soon after.

"No!" Wolf yelled, trying to run forward and help his parents, only to be hit across the face and held back from them.

"Leave my son alone, you motherfuckers!" Rodrick yelled.

This prompted Ramero to step forward and strike Rodrick across the face.

"Don't worry, O'Donnell." he said in a mocking tone. "I'm sure he'll make a perfect C ranker."

Rodrick gritted his teeth and slammed his forehead into Ramero's groin. Ramero let out a loud and pained scream as he stumbled backwards, prompting another A ranker to come forward and hit Rodrick numerous times before helping his boss up. Rodrick's fury grew even more when he saw John get out of the freighter's cockpit with a smirk on his face.

"John…how could you? We're your friends!" Max yelled.

"Sorry, fellas. Mr. Ramero here promised a sure passage of the planet if I did this for him."

"But that's exactly what we were doing, you bastard!"

"You really thought that was gonna work? They'd chase us across half the galaxy if they got the chance. You can't just run away from your troubles and not expect any sort of consequence."

John turned to Ramero.

"Alright, boss. I did what you asked. Now you have to keep up your end of the bargain."

Ramero sucked in a breath through his nose and exhaled before giving John a respectable smile.

"Of course. One swift transport from Macbeth…"

He extended his hand to John, who promptly took the hand and shook it…right before he realized Ramero had a pistol in his other hand.

"And into the depths of Hell."

There was a split second flash accompanied by a loud bang, and John dropped to the ground with a permanent shocked expression on his face that now housed a bloody hole above his brow. Not two feet away, Wolf came very close to throwing up. He had just watched someone die right in front of him…and to think that it was just the warm-up round.

"It's all just good business, gentlemen." Ramero said menacingly to the B rankers. "And in good business, there are always liabilities that can be disposed of and replaced with relative ease. Key example: you."

The B rankers squeezed their eyes shut as the A rankers that subdued them pulled the trigger on the backs of their heads. One by one, Wolf watched in horror as the people he had come to care about over his childhood years dropped dead on the ground before him until the only two left were his parents.

"No…please don't do this!" he shouted, his voice steadily growing shakier as he feared for the worst. "They mean everything to me!"

"Shut up!" yelled Wolf's captor before tensing his grip.

Ramero looked at Wolf angrily.

"If you didn't want them dead, then you shouldn't have been selfish and wanting a better life than what you can get. A rat like you has no business making demands. You will be reinstated as a C ranked worker starting tomorrow morning and you will remain one until you come of age. Maybe then you'll have learned your lesson about trying to be above authority."

With that, Ramero walked over to Nina and Rodrick and drew another pistol from his belt. He pressed a barrel against each of their heads and rested his fingers on the triggers.

"Now both of you savour your last moment with your son."

The two of them looked up and into Wolf's scared and disbelieving eyes. They knew how he felt and how this would affect him, and though they weren't fortune-tellers or anything of the sort, they knew what would come of this event. Nina smiled, closed her eyes and lowered her head again while Rodrick smirked at Wolf and gave him a quick wink.

"Give 'em Hell, son."

Wolf couldn't make any sense of what his father had said, but what he could make sense out of was Ramero savouring the act of ending their lives.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAD!" Wolf screamed.

The two seemed to fall in slow-motion, almost gracefully. When they made contact with the ground, they remained there. They didn't turn the heads up and look into Wolf's eyes like a lot of other workers did back in the day when they suffered heavy injuries. They remained there, motionless and silent. Wolf saw the blood leaking from them, and he saw the A rankers stand there was though they saw this kind of thing happen all the time. With that planted firmly in his mind, Wolf's emotions welled up within him.

The worst thing about this situation was also the strangest thing. He didn't cry. The sadness he felt was minimal, but the anger was nothing short of monstrous. He didn't want to mourn his parents' deaths. He wanted to throttle Ramero and keep doing it until he squeezed the life out of him, and when he was finished he wanted to shoot every single one of the A rankers for even thinking that Ramero was someone worth obeying

Once Ramero saw this look, he scowled.

"You little bastard. Don't give me that look. You may have the eyes of a demon, but you're nothing less than a common child."

Ramero looked at the A rankers and cocked his head toward the freighter.

"Put him in the cargo hold. Take him to the C rankers' facility."

"I don't think there's enough room for him, sir. All the individual cells are taken."

"Then partner him up with someone! Stick him in a cell with Caroso for all I care! Just do it!"

Wolf found himself thrown into the dark cargo hold and felt the ship rise up off the ground again. C rankers…child workers. Working twelve hours a day with absolutely nothing, and all he was promised was promotion to B rank. Ramero didn't slack his tyranny even for children.

Now that Ramero was out of his face, though, Wolf realized just what had happened. He curled up into a ball, hugging himself and steadily beginning to cry. His mother and father were gone forever, and here he was on his way to the worst conceivable place he could think of.

He was in pain in both body and spirit…and no one was coming to help him.

He was alone.

* * *

_**For those of you who saw this coming and were still appalled by it, don't feel weird. I'm appalled by it and I wrote it.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids


	4. 3: The Infamy Begins

CHAPTER THREE

**The Infamy Begins**

Before long, Wolf found himself thrown into a small jail-like cell, eating the dirt for the umpteenth time tonight and feeling no better than before. He lay there uselessly for several moments after the barred door slammed shut, and what he saw after standing up and looked through the bars didn't serve to help him whatsoever. There were hundreds of these cells, all with children as young as ten in them. None of them were crying like Wolf had been expecting, but he could hear a few moaning a good distance away.

"I'm going to be stuck here for the next nine years…this is unbelievable…" he muttered.

"Believe it."

Only when that voice rang out of nowhere did Wolf realize that he wasn't alone in his cell. He turned his head and spotted someone standing in the corner and looking at him with an almost malevolent glare. The boy was a wild cat that looked roughly the same age as Wolf, but was taller and had a white scar running from underneath his left eye to his shoulder. His eyes were a light yellow color and served to contrast his dark fur, and Wolf could sense what this boy was trying to do the second he saw him, and retaliated with his own sour look.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not working."

The boy smirked.

"Good. You're not a coward. I can't stand cowards."

Wolf ignored him and sat down on the floor, staring out the bars and trying to look for any speck of the night sky. There wasn't any. The only thing that could come close to comforting him in this dire hour of his was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, you alright?" the boy asked.

"Does it look like it?"

"…alright. What happened?"

"Ramero…he murdered my parents right in front of me…just when it looked like I was moving on to a new and better life."

"Can't say I fully understand you there. I mean, I get what's wrong, but I don't know how it feels."

"What?"

"I never knew my parents. Call them shitty parents for giving me up or maybe noble parents for giving their lives to protect me, I don't know. Doesn't matter, really. Ramero just hates kids, by the looks of it."

"Me in particular."

"What for?"

"How the hell would I know?"

The boy clapped a hand down on Wolf's shoulder and offered his other one.

"I like you, buddy. What's your name?"

Wolf stared at the boy's hand for a brief moment, trying to decipher whether or not he was being friendly or just leading him on and then finishing him off later. Then again, what good would it do him to make an enemy on his first night here?

After much hesitation, he took the hand and shook it.

"My name is Wolf O'Donnell."

The boy nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Wolf. I'm Panther. Panther Caroso."

Wolf released his hand and went back to looking out through the bars. Panther sighed.

"There's no sense in staying sad about what happened forever, man. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to move on."

"I'm not sad. I'm angry…no, furious."

"Oh…well, that's not so bad."

"Can you imagine it…being unable to save the only two people that meant anything to you? Having them be killed by the guy that's made your life a living hell and then him just shrugging it off like it's part of his daily routine?!"

"No, I can't. I think we've gone over this already."

"…I want to kill him."

"Eh?"

Wolf turned his head toward Panther and looked at him with a gaze that practically screamed fury.

"Ramero's done so horrible things to me and my family before but he's gone too far this time. I wanna find him when he's sleeping and slit his throat…give him a more brutal death than anything he could dream up."

"Then wait."

"Huh?"  
"I'm all for killing that son of a bitch, especially if he did a thing like that to you, but you're not even thirteen yet. You aren't strong enough. Maybe a few years of hard labour will do you some good. I just have to warn you, though: you might think that your parents being murdered in front of you is a living hell, but just wait until tomorrow morning."

"What about it?"

"Take a look."

Panther wrenched his shirt off and exposed his bare torso. All over his body were cuts and bruises, some of which were fading but most of which seemed fresh.

"They make children do a B ranker's work here, and they're all ordered to keep to themselves. If someone gets injured, you don't stop to help them up. You keep working or you get yelled at and hit by the guards, and let me tell you right now that those bastards back one hell of a punch."

"…how long have you been here?"

"Three years. I'm twelve right now, and when I first started, I was crying all the time because of how harsh everything was. Now, you could argue that I'm tough as nails. I guess it was just hope that I'd eventually get out of here that helped keep me from becoming an emotionless brute."

"How does Ramero get away things like this?"

"Simple: he doesn't mention it and anyone who's tried to come forward about it has been knocked off. It's simple logic, honestly. If you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself. If you want to get back at Ramero, people like the Cornerian Army ain't gonna help you because they're too formal for it."

"Great, so I'm on my own. Very reassuring."

"Keep that anger close, pal. There's no comfort for the weak and wounded here."

* * *

What Panther had said about there not being any comfort for the weak and wounded couldn't be any truer. The second daylight had broken, Wolf and Panther were woken up and ordered to get to work. For the most part, the C rankers had largely the same duties as the B rankers, but with three significant alterations.

The first was that while the B rankers were simply watched by cameras, there were at least two guards standing around to make sure the kids kept working and only allowing them to stop when it was time for their lunch break, and even then, the food was horrible so it wasn't anything to look forward to. In fact, the only real thing to look forward to was going to bed that night and getting some rest.

The second thing was that while B rankers worked out in broad daylight (which could be considered bad because of the heat), the C rankers worked in the darkness of a mine deep within their holding area. The third thing was probably the worst of all. Everything in the mine had to be operated manually, therefore meaning that the children were forced to use multiple machines that could cause potential harm to them. They even had to push the carts a certain distance before it would be lifted up out of the mine.

All of this manual labour truly took its toll on Wolf. He ended up cutting himself at least once every day, and sometimes collapsing from exhaustion and taking several moments to pick himself up, only to discover there was a nasty bruise on the part he'd fallen on. As stated before, the food was horrible and Wolf nearly vomited after eating it long enough, and as Panther had mentioned, he couldn't go two minutes without one of the guards yelling at him.

Then came something that not only set Wolf apart from the other C rankers, but also made the guards consider him a bit of a threat. Every time Wolf was yelled at, he look at the guard who yelled and glare at him for several seconds with the most frightening look they'd ever seen. He paid no attention to the other workers and just kept on working solo, even managing to push whole carts by himself.

Even after seven years of this, Wolf showed no signs of slowing down and had earned a reputation of being not only the strongest C ranker aside from Panther (who had been there longer and was still taller than Wolf), but also the most intimidating due to the glaring-at-the-guards bit, but also a physical change that occurred over the years.

It had occurred to Wolf that one needed to take personal hygiene into one's own hands. If one stank, one would need to find some water and wash themselves. If one's hair grew too long, one would have to cut it themselves. If one's fingernails grew out…one would plot.

As Wolf got older, his fingernails grew very long and turned black after lacking any sufficient care, and Wolf eventually had himself a deadly set of claws. No one talked to him about it, fearing he'd slash them with these newfound weapons of his if he didn't like what they had to say. None of them knew that once Wolf had seen them growing out, he realized just how big of a threat he could be to them.

Wolf hadn't kept track of the days or even months, but it didn't matter. That one night when he pricked himself on his claws and drew blood let him know that this was the night. He was finally breaking out, and the rest of these poor kids were breaking out with him.

"You sure this'll work?" asked Panther.

"Of course not. That's where the thrill comes from."

"Great. So how do we lure the guard over here?"

"Leave that to me."

Wolf got the door and checked to make sure none of the guards were watching. If he messed this step up, the whole plan was shot. Once he was sure, he slipped two claws into the lock on the door, steadily moving them around until the sweet sound of a metallic click was heard and the door eased open.

"Okay. Remember: I take the first guy out, you take his gun and his keys." Wolf instructed. "Then you unlock everyone's doors."

"And you're going to knock out the rest of the guards?"

"Yeah."

"And if it gets too close for comfort?"

Wolf looked down at his claws and flexed them.

"I'm not afraid to kill any of these sons of bitches."

Panther smirked.

"Good. Me neither."

With that, the two exited their cell and deliberately strolled along until a nearby guard saw them.

"Hey!" he yelled. "How did you two get out of your cell?"

"Wasn't that hard." Panther mocked. "Maybe your boss should shell out some money to get a better jail instead of another whore for his collection."

The guard gritted his teeth and swung at Panther's head with the butt of his gun, which Wolf seized in mid-swing.

"Let go, you little piece of…"

Before the guard could finish his sentence, Wolf covered his mouth, one claw landing dangerously close to the guard's eye.

"Here's how this is going to work." Wolf whispered calmly yet with a hint of menace. "You will hand my friend here both your gun and your keys, or I'll puncture your eyes and throw you over the railing, and believe me when I say I'm more than capable of doing that."

The guard said nothing out of fear that one wrong move would set Wolf and slowly handed Panther his gun, then reached behind his back and produced his keys before passing them to Panther as well.

"Thank you…sorry about this." Wolf said before giving the guard a heavy punch to the head.

The guard fell unconscious almost instantly and slumped over in Wolf's arms. Wolf himself promptly tossed him into their empty cell and locked the door.

"Can't afford him calling for reinforcements too early."

"Good thinking…and you were sorry about that?"

"Of course not. He had it comin' and so will all the other assholes that work for Ramero."

"Amen to that."

Thus, Panther proceeded down the walkway toward the other cells while Wolf walked around to look for another guard. He heard one coming around the corner, and thus crouched down and sprang out the second the guard appeared. In the split second he saw the guard's face, he realized that this was the same guard that had held him back from his parents…the same guard that had kept him from saving them. In that split second, Wolf's rage burned beyond control, and thus, he took a first step to infamy…

…he committed his first murder.

His claws scissored the man's throat with ease, blood coming spurting out almost instantly. The man looked at Wolf for only a moment, his eyes showing both disbelief and anger before he fell face first onto the ground. Wolf looked down at his hand, now stained in the blood of his victim. He had just killed a man…and yet he felt no remorse whatsoever.

"Is this what Ramero feels like?" he asked himself. "Ending someone's life like it's his day job and not giving two shits about it?"

No. He wasn't like Ramero. Ramero had enjoyed the merciless slaughtering of Nina and Rodrick. Wolf had felt nothing but anger killing this guard who had been at a clear disadvantage. It wasn't to satisfy bloodlust. It was cold and hard revenge.

Wolf took up the guard's gun and looked at his corpse one last time before sneering.

"You made me watch my parents die. Call this returning the favour."

Wolf's ears pricked up and he spotted a guard standing on the other side of the room who had just seen what he'd done. The guard was about to run off when Wolf lifted the gun and fired one single shot. That shot embedded itself into the guard's head and knocked him dead off his feet. The shot echoed throughout the room, and before long, every guard in the vicinity knew that something was wrong. Perhaps someone got startled and fired off their gun by accident, or one of the workers was attempting escape.

No. When the rounded the corner, they saw in pure horror that it was the worst case scenario: a full-scale riot. All of the C rankers were charging them, outmatching them in both combined strength and numbers. Before long, the guards found themselves beaten to a pulp, thrown over the railing, pumped full of lead, and (in the case of their killer being Wolf) having their throats slit or their hearts slashed. The young workers didn't care that they were taking the lives of these men. They wanted their freedom and they were willing to gun down every man on the planet to get it.

"Good work, Panther!" Wolf called.

"Don't mention it." Panther replied as he came up behind Wolf. "I've wanted to do this for ten years now…so now what?"

"There should be a freighter in the A ranker's facility. Just head over there and get everybody on it. Don't wait up for me."

"What? You're not coming?"

"I've got a little business to attend to here."

Wolf turned around and was about to head for the communications room when Panther grabbed his arm. Wolf looked into his yellow eyes and was ashamed to think for even a moment that Panther was going to backstab him just like John had done. But no. Panther was too classy for that, and considering he'd worked in what was essentially a child labour camp for ten years, that was saying something.

"Look, if by chance you don't make it…or y'know, you do make it but we never see each other again…I think it's safe for me to consider you a friend."

Wolf smiled.

"Thanks. I could do with one of those for once. Now go. Get as far away from Macbeth as you can."

Panther smiled and nodded before running off with the rest of the escapees. With that, Wolf doubled back and ran up the stairs of the communications tower. Upon hearing a voice inside the room, he came to a halt and peeked inside. There was a single frightened guard inside speaking through the intercom to who else but the bastard son of a thousand fathers himself.

"Mr. Ramero, it's complete chaos down here!" the guard cried.

"What do you mean 'complete chaos'?!"

"It's Wolf O'Donnell! He…he's started up a riot! All of the guys except Fitzgerald are dead!"  
"O'Donnell…Rodrick's son did all that?!"

"Yeah...I think…I think they're trying to escape!"

"Then don't just stand there babbling like an idiot! Get out there and…"

Before Ramero could finish the sentence, Wolf entered the room and suffocated the guard into unconsciousness before he took up the intercom.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, Kodek."

On the other end, Ramero gritted his teeth. He knew just from looking in this kid's eyes that he would eventually do something stupid, but this was taking it to a whole new level.

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, O'Donnell, but I can assure you that you…"

"Won't get away with it? What are you gonna do, demand that the Cornerian Army go searching the system for dozens of child workers? You're not that stupid, are you?"

Ramero said nothing.

"Now listen to me very carefully." Wolf said menacingly. "I don't know how you found it in yourself to abuse your position and kill your workers like you get off from it, but let me tell you that on that night seven years ago, you made the biggest mistake of your life. My father told me to give you hell…and whether you like it or not, that's what I plan on doing. Sleep tight and enjoy your pleasant dreams while you can, because now I'm hunting for you. I will find you…and I will kill you."

With that, Wolf shot the intercom and left Ramero sitting there practically wetting himself. An eighteen-year old boy had just threatened to kill him…and he was actually frightened.

Wolf paid no attention to that and simply savoured this victory. His first step toward vengeance was complete.

He crashed through the window, burying his claws into the metal wall and sliding down to the ground. Once he landed, he saw the freighter take off in the distance. He smiled up at it, getting the feeling that Panther was smiling back at him.

"Go for it, kids. I'll join you as quick as I can."

He began walking across the barren landscape, stopping to look up into the sky. His eyes fixated on the full moon above him as it oddly comforted him after what he had just done. He had taken a step not just towards vengeance, but towards freedom. He closed his eyes, breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth…

…and let out a ghostly howl that echoed through the midnight air.

* * *

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell (that badass song at the star of Casino Royale)


	5. 4: A Foreboding Ally

**_Just a quick notice that this was the prize for the winner of the Subspecies cover contest. The winner may notice that something has been changed to fit into the rest of the story. You'll know it when you see it._**

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

**A Foreboding Ally**

**August 4****th****, 2024**

**The slums of Corneria**

Two years after his escape from Macbeth, Wolf had made his way to Corneria. Living there for two years wasn't an easy thing to do since not only did he have no money, he had no friends…at least, none that he knew were on this planet. The entire time he was there, he plotted and plotted his vengeance until he had dreams about it, especially the difficulties in pulling it off.

He knew that Ramero wouldn't come out like a man and fight right away. He'd have a small army of goons working for him, so Wolf needed a goon to help him out. But that presented another problem. Since Ramero had made his business out to be legitimate (covering up his tracks to extraordinary detail), Wolf couldn't just run to the Cornerian Army and ask for them to assassinate him, especially considering that he had committed a few murders back on Macbeth.

He knew it wouldn't help his standing, but there was no alternative. He'd have to hire a trained killer to help him, and there was yet another problem that was stated previously: he had no money…not right away, at least.

Living in back alleys for a few months, he eventually made a small living by doing various odd jobs, spending money only to buy cheap food. To serve as a living space, he emptied out an old dumpster and made it as comfortable as he could. What few other kids came along and threatened to gut him if he didn't give up his solitude ran off scared with a single flash of Wolf's dagger-like claws. By this time, Wolf had accumulated a few thousand dollars. Maybe not good enough to hire an expert assassin, but enough to hire a decent one that was down on his luck.

Now that he had the money, there was one more question: where could he look for someone that would be willing to carry out a crime like this? The bar in which he stood in front of now according to a few guys that committed a small theft, known as the _Stray Dog_.

Oddly appropriate.

He walked up to the door, which was guarded by a beefy cougar that wasn't nearly as tall or as intimidating as Wolf could be.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

The bouncer took a good look at him and frowned.

"This is no place for you, kid." he said sternly. "Go on home."

"And why is that?"

"This is a 'male retreat' club. No minors allowed."

"You can just say it's a strip joint, pal. I'm not six years old."

"Either way, you ain't gettin' in. Now beat it."

Wolf crossed his arms.

"Like I said, I'm not six years old. It just so happens that I'm twenty years old, thus making me not a minor but a legal adult. Now if you'd be so kind as to step aside."

"Got any ID?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, well, too bad 'cause you don't look twenty to me. Get lost."

Wolf sighed and withdrew a slip of paper from his pocket.

"Here's a hundred bucks."

The bouncer took the dollar bill and looked at it for a few moments before shoving it in his pocket and stepping aside.

"G'head in, sir. The girls are waiting for you."

Wolf nodded.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

As Wolf was about to walk in, the bouncer tapped on his shoulder.

"Something about this place, though. Keep your guard up. They're man-eaters in there."

"I can take on a couple of drunks, don't you worry."

"Not the drunks, though they're not exactly stellar. The girls. A lot of them get really frisky with their private shows."

"…huh. Thanks for the tip."

With that, Wolf walked in, but not before biting his lip.

"Shit…wasn't counting on it being a strip joint…but then again, there's a lotta girls around here that spring at the oppourtunity to take the easy way out."

The club itself was just what he expected from something like this. The lights were down low and there were strobe flashes all over the place. He could barely hear a thing anybody was talking about thanks to the loud yet oddly soothing dance music, and as though his vision wasn't violated enough, he saw exactly what the bouncer had been talking about. There were about seven or eight twenty-something girls of varying species, all scantily-clad and looking at the bar-goers with sultry eyes and smiles. Some of them where pole-dancing while others were sitting seductively in the booths to lure over any weak-minded boys.

Wolf simply ignored it to the best of his ability, zipped up his jacket, and began walking toward the bar. Sadly, one of the girls stepped in front of him first.

"Hey, sorry to rain on your parade, sweetie, but this place is only for adults." she said.

Wolf looked at her with a smirk.

"You don't look like much of an adult yourself."

The girl looked at him strangely for a moment before clearing her throat.

"I'm eighteen. I'm legal." she said.

"Well, I'm twenty. That makes me more legal."

Upon hearing Wolf's age, she shrugged off the comments the two had made to each other and scooted close to him. She suddenly adopted a seductive grin, failing to notice that Wolf wasn't impressed. He even rolled his eyes and groaned in disgust, but she was too fascinated by how strong he looked for someone his age.

"Anyway, how about a dance? First one's free."

"Not interested."

"Wha…not interested? Then what are you doing here in the first place? This is a joint where guys come to get their kicks!"

"Among other things, but that's beside the point. I'm looking for anybody that would be willing to help me carry something out that's…not exactly a morally right thing to do. Know anybody around here that might be willing to do that?"

The girl bit her lip and brought her hand up to the back of her neck. She was initially enticed by this boy, but now he was really starting to scare her. Nevertheless, she answered his question fairly decently.

"How about that guy?" she said, pointing over to the bar. "I always hear him telling people that he's a renowned assassin if that's what you're looking for."

Wolf looked over to where she was pointing. Sitting there was a chameleon dressed in a leather jacket and torn jeans, looking like he had come here after a long day at work.

"He'll do. Thanks, Miss…"

"Star Bust."

"And considering your occupation and how it doesn't suit you…at all, I take it that's not your real name?"

"No…umm…it's Lori."

The two seconds in which she had to speak her name were probably the most nerve-wracking moments of her young life, though she was somewhat soothed when she saw the man in front of her smile and pat her shoulder in response.

"Use that name. Your mom and dad gave it to you for a good reason."

Before he could give the poor girl any more trouble, he walked towards the bar and sat down next to the chameleon. He didn't look him in the eye at first. Instead, he motioned to the bartender.

"Throw me a Jack Daniels and Bacardi." he said.

The bartender mixed up the two drinks and handed Wolf the glass. Wolf himself started drinking the liquid immediately. By this time, the chameleon had looked over at him with a grin.

"Interesting combination."

Wolf put down his glass and looked at him.

"I take pride in trying new things…living on the streets for one."

The chameleon smirked.

"A boy only drinks this much when he wants to impress a woman or kill a man. So which one is it?"

Wolf stared at him with the sternest of looks.

"The latter." he said firmly. "The latter with a vengeance."

"Hm. And I guess Lori over there told you about me, eh?"

"Yeah…she seemed scared of you."

"Most people are. I've slit more throats than Corneria's fought wars."  
"So you ARE a trained killer, then?"  
"Not trained, really. Unless you count acting on instinct as training."

Wolf turned directly to the stranger now and offered his hand.

"Wolf O'Donnell."

The man smiled and took the young canine's hand, shaking it lightly upon grasping it.

"Leon Powalski. So, who is it you want me to help you kill?"

Wolf reached into his pocket and took out a sepia tone picture of his nemesis and gave it to Leon. The latter looked it over for a few moments before raising his eyebrows.

"Kodek Ramero. Not an easy man to get close to."

"Exactly why I came to you for help."

"Do you know where he is?"

"…no. I was hoping you could help with that, too."

"2,000 dollars."

"Now or when the deed is done?"

"Now."

His answer was straightforward and immediate. There was no way Wolf could bargain with him, but he had no intention of doing it. Regardless of that, he decided to at least test Leon.

"And if I were to demand you to loan me your services for a cheaper price?"

"I'd say, 'Sorry, no sale.'."

"That's it?"

"Almost. You'd then get angry and whip out the machine pistol in your pocket…a MAC 11, if I'm right."

"MAC 10. Can't afford to take the stronger model when you're living on the streets."

"Then I'd disarm you fairly easily since I'm twenty-five and you're about five years younger than me, and if necessary stab you in the throat with my tactical folder knife, which I'll then leave there. You wouldn't die from this. You'd suffocate until you lost consciousness…and then I'd pull the knife out and leave you to bleed to death."

Wolf smirked. It was just as he had thought. This man was not only an efficient killer, but a tactical genius, as well.

"I like your style, Leon. 2,000 it is."

Wolf began to hand Leon the money, but the chameleon stopped and looked Wolf deep in the eyes. For a moment, the young O'Donnell thought Leon was reading into something that wasn't there and was going to overreact, but no. He spoke calmly as he delivered a fair warning.

"Remember, Wolf: if I take this from you and we pull this thing off, there's no going back. This guy is a well-known and respected businessman."

"Both of which he doesn't deserve."

"Even so, if you kill him, the cops and every bounty hunter out there is going to be on your ass until either you die or get out of the galaxy."

"I'm willing to take that chance. If General Pepper doesn't want any more murderers in Lylat, then Ramero shouldn't have killed my parents and thrown me in a labour camp for seven fuckin' years."

Leon smiled as Wolf forced the money into his hand. He pocketed it and clapped a hand down on his newfound client's shoulder.

"You sound like you could use another drink. How 'bout a plain old beer this time? My treat."

"Thanks…just don't get me drunk."

Wolf jerked his thumb at the girls dancing a few feet away from them.

"I don't want to wind up doing something I'll regret."

"Murder not being one of them?"

"For this son of a bitch, no chance."

The drinks slid into their hands and they both took large swigs before placing them back down, spinning around in their seats to look at the scene before them. The club music was still playing, the lights were still low, and the girls were still working it. All except for Lori who seemed to have drifted off into a corner and was trying to avoid being spotted by any of the club-goers, or (even worse) her boss. Wolf smirked. She was quite a beauty for what she had as a job. Nevertheless, he took his attention off her and looked at the rest.

"I can't believe Corneria still allows this." Wolf muttered.

"It doesn't. Not without a permit, anyway." Leon replied.

"So why are they openly doing this when they know they can get arrested for it?"

"It's as simple as trying to make money so they can survive. You can't obey the law if you can't survive in the world that demands it."

"Hm…makes sense, I suppose."

"You ever been in love, Wolf?"

Regardless of his somewhat enlightening encounter with Lori, Wolf didn't even need to think about that. Granted, he did need to take a moment to fully process what Leon had said since a question like that was something he had never been asked before.

"Nope, though I attribute that to the labour camp thing. You?"

"Yeah…I could have been a married man at one point."

"Really? What happened?"

"Were you wondering where exactly I got my talents from?"  
"No, not really."

"The thing is that I used to be a solider for the Cornerian Army until…it happened. My fiancée and I were at home one night…I think it might have been a month or so before we were supposed to get married, and then some son of a bitch who thought he was being funny ran in to our apartment building and started threatening everyone at gunpoint. When I tried to get this guy under control, he opened fire on whatever living thing came close enough to him. I managed to subdue him, but…then he…"

Leon gulped down the last of his drink and slammed the glass down so hard on the table that it nearly cracked.

"He dropped a Molotov cocktail and lit the whole thing on fire."

"Wha…what kinda sick son of a bitch would do that?!"

"The same kind that would run into a school full of innocent children and kill them for no reason whatsoever. My fiancée was still upstairs, but when I ran up to get her out, part of the building collapsed and…she was clinging on to it."

Leon could still remember the horrible screams coming from both him and the woman he loved falling to her death with her fur ablaze the whole way. He had promised himself that he'd stop crying over it, but he couldn't prevent a single tear from escaping the corner of his eye.

"After that, I dropped out of the military. The thing is that you're not allowed to do that unless your superior officer says you can, or rather tells you to. Leaving the military prematurely can earn you up to three months in jail…more if you continuously evade capture and degenerate into a hired assassin."

"AWOL soldier or not, you're the best hope I've got to have my revenge."

"The best hope? Or the first fella you came across who was capable of something like this?"

Wolf tried not to smirk from the snarky comment since Leon's heart-wrenching story still lingered in his mind. Just when he began thinking that the two of them weren't so different (y'know, aside from that one big thing), Leon spoke again.

"So how was it that your parents died?"

Wolf explained his story to the reptilian assassin, who listened intently and never ceased to be interested in what the young canine had to say. He showed some concern when Wolf described how Ramero had shot both Rodrick and Nina point blank in the face. He'd seen plenty of kids like this in his day, and most of them had all wound up either dead or in a really bad spot with the Cornerian Army.

"I see." Leon said once Wolf had finished. "Then there's nothing I can of to talk you out of this. What's the plan?"

"We'll lay low for a little while until we can confirm exactly where Ramero will be appearing. Once we get there, I'll be the first to go in and get him all softened up since he probably won't recognize me after all this time."

"Counting on a bit of a senior moment, eh? I like it."

"Then when I give the signal, you do whatever it is you'll do to finish him off in one quick stroke."

Leon cracked his knuckles with a grin.

"One quick stroke is all I need, bud…ah, shit."

"What?"

"We've got trouble."

Wolf turned his head toward the door and spotted something he wasn't exactly pleased to see: several drunken redneck types harassing two of the girls. One of them happened to be Lori. Wolf remained unconcerned since things like this happened just about every day on Corneria, but then he saw one of the rednecks drag Lori out of the corner by her wrist.

"Why is that trouble?" asked Wolf.

"Because we're going to do something about it." Leon replied.

"We?"

"Neither of us can stand to see women in trouble…plus I don't like rednecks."

"Uhh…I kinda talk with the same kind of accent."

"Yes, but you're no redneck, Wolf."

Leon clapped his hand down on Wolf's shoulder in a very friendly gesture, complete with a smile.  
"You're a cowboy, sport. I admire that."

Wolf smirked.

"Right, then. Shall we?"

The two got up out of their seats and proceeded towards the joint's new patrons.

"Excuse me, but your ego is showing." Wolf said.

The first redneck turned towards Wolf with a confused frown, letting go of Lori's wrist and giving her a chance to get away.  
"What'd you say?"  
"Nothing that someone of your intelligence would comprehend, I'm sure. Kindly let these poor young things go and we'll gladly not punch your teeth in."

They let the other girl go, but not with peaceful intentions.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, ya little shithead?" the strongest-looking one growled.

"Oh, me? I'm nobody. I'm just the guy who did your mom last night."

"You son of a…"

"Ya really had to do that, eh, Wolf?" Leon said with a light chuckle under his breath.

"Sorry. I've just always wanted to say that."

The second one of the rednecks made a move forward, the two sprang into action, swinging their fists as quickly as they would go. With this, Leon managed to show off some of his military training since every Cornerian soldier needed to be trained in hand-to-hand combat in order to be accepted, and the preferred practice was a mix of standard wrestling and the martial art jujitsu. Leon grappled one of the rednecks and pile-drove him into the ground before performing a strong roundhouse kick to another one without even getting up.

Right away Wolf was impressed by what Leon could do. He was perfect for this job, but they both needed to get out of there in one piece if that job was going to be pulled off. Not to mention that Wolf needed to show his own prowess to impress Leon. The second one of the rednecks approached him, he slid under his legs and gave him a firm punch to the groin, forcing him to crumple to his and leave himself wide open for a kick in the back.

"Ya little piece a' shit!"  
"Little? I'm about two inches taller than you, mac. I wouldn't call that little."

"Shaddup!"

"Nah, I don't think I will. Talking to you is too much fun."

A punch at Wolf's head simply resulted in him grabbing it in mid-air and retaliating with a clean shot to the jaw. Unfortunately, one of his claws had nicked the redneck across the cheek and left a fairly bad gash.

"Sheesh, where'd you get those?" Leon asked, ducking under a kick and punching his attacker in the face.

"I grew them out. When you work in a labour camp, you need to look after yourself. They don't care if your fur hangs down over your face and you can't see, they don't care if you develop cancer or AIDs, and they sure as hell don't care if a rock falls on you and permanently disables you. If you can still work, you're working."

"And I thought being in the military was harsh."  
"You have no idea."

The second one of the rednecks drew a knife, Wolf jumped onto the stage where several of the girls had been dancing, wrenching one of the poles out of the floor and lunging at them. A quick smack across the face with the metal rod sent one redneck sprawling away right as Wolf saw one sneaking up on his trained killer.

"Leon!" he called, throwing his reptilian ally the pole.

Leon caught the pole effortlessly and juggled it around in his hands, managing to strike anyone of his attackers that came too close.

"Not bad, am I?" he jokingly called to Wolf.

"You were flawless the second you started fighting!" Wolf called back with a clever grin…before seeing what one of the rednecks had pulled out from his belt. "Holy shit, TAKE COVER!"

Leon and Wolf flipped up one the metal tables just in time and hid behind it right as the sawed-off shotgun began firing, spreading ashes all over the place. The noise was very close to unbearable what with the loud sounds of shotgun shells being fired and clanging against their hiding spot, as well as the screaming of the various girls who had just come in for a peaceful night's work and ending up getting caught in a standoff. To Wolf and Leon's surprise, the rednecks didn't advance on them. They simply continued firing as though the shells would eventually pierce through the table.

"Another thing I prefer about cowboys than rednecks." Leon said. "Not only are you more polite than they are, you're a lot smarter than they are."

"No kidding…in fact, there's a little bit of smarts kicking up right now."

He said this as he spotted another table knocked over to his right side that was tilted at just the perfect angle. The reason? He could see the redneck with the shotgun in the tabletop reflection. Thank God it was made of metal or else this would have no chance of working, though he still needed precision and a lot of luck to pull this off.

In a single swift motion, Wolf pulled out his pistol, aimed true, and fired. The bullet seemed to travel in slow motion as Wolf's thoughts raced. What if it missed? What if he hit one of the girls by accident? He didn't focus on that for two reasons. A: he had already fired the bullet, and B: he had thankfully been spot on. The bullet buried itself into the redneck's arm. He let out a blood-curdling scream and dropped his gun, clutching at his arm like someone had just sliced it off.

"Hey, Tanner, what happened?!" yelled one of his cronies.

"That little shit shot my arm!" he bawled.

Wolf looked at Leon and pressed his hands against the table.

"Now!"

The two shoved as hard as they could, surging the table as they ran along with it forward and knocking all three rednecks of their feet and eventually out the door unconscious. The two stood once they had taken a good and well-deserved moment to calm down and catch their breath.

"Uhh…just a thought, but I think we better get outta here before someone calls the cops." Wolf said.

"Ditto. Follow me."

Leon led the way out the door, leaving the girls and the other bar-goers to sit there in confusion. Wolf spotted Lori on his way out the door, pausing for a moment and giving some money and a warm smile.

"Take care of yourself, kid." he said.

"Who…who are you?"

"Wolf O'Donnell. I think you'll be hearing that name again very soon."

Lori was speechless as the dashing young canine ran out the door after Leon, though in her thoughts, she wished him well. Whoever he was, he was more than capable of doing what he had set out to do.

Once the two were certain that they had gotten a good distance away from the joint, Leon and Wolf doubled over panting.

"You did good in there, Wolf." Leon said. "I haven't seen a kid as strong or smart as you in ages."

"I try…so who was the other kid?"

Leon smirked at him.

"Me, of course!"

Wolf smirked in return, though this smirk quickly faded away as both Wolf and Leon stood upright. He looked at his reptilian companion with a very serious gaze and offered out his hand.

"So what do you say? Partners."

Leon smirked.

"I like your style, kid. You remind me a lot of myself…a younger, furrier me, but I digress."

Leon grabbed Wolf's hand and shook it.

"Partners."

* * *

_**So meeting Panther and Leon is checked off the list. And for all the extreme feminists that read these chapter and were offended that I incorporated a strip joint in there: it's just a story. For goodness sake, put a helmet on!**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath


	6. 5: Backfire

CHAPTER FIVE

**Backfire**

**August 8****th****, 2024**

**Lez Velgas, Planet Papetoon**

Wolf wasn't exactly surprised when Leon had managed to uncover where Ramero would be appearing that night. The location was a rather popular casino in a less than popular city on a rather obscure planet. Papetoon wasn't discussed as much as Fortuna or Aquas when it came to natural beauty, but it was still a very beautiful planet. According to most people, tough, the only things it had going for it were the casino and the fact that someone of great significance to the people of Corneria lived there.

As Wolf walked up the casino after he and Leon landed their commandeered military fighters (yes, "commandeered", not "stolen"), he could say it was a fair improvement from the risqué joint he had been in a few days ago, but that only applied to how it looked. Otherwise, it felt completely different from atmosphere alone. This was a place of sophistication and riches, neither of which Wolf had. Even worse was that it seemed to be reserved for the people that did have those things since there was a tall and beefy fellow checking names off a list he had in his hand.

"Ah, shit." Wolf groaned. "I know where this is going…oh, well. I don't really have a choice in the matter."

He attempted to walk straight through the door, and was unsurprisingly blocked by the bouncer.

"Name?"

Even though it had been two years, Wolf seriously doubted Ramero to be the kind to forget a threat on his life. If he said his real name and Ramero had warned the bouncer about him, he'd have the police called on him. He could still bet on Ramero not remembering what he looked like, though. Besides, what were the chances of Wolf guessing a name on the list and being allowed entry?

There was no alternative. Wolf landed a heavy punch to the bouncer's head and knocked him to the ground. The other party-goers that had yet to get in all gasped and looked at Wolf with frightened expressions while he smirked at the now-unconscious bouncer.

"It's on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know."

The looks he got once he was inside the casino were nothing short of loathing. Compared to all of the snappily-dressed men and women here, he stuck out like a sore thumb in his dirty clothes and leather gloves which didn't seem to fit him properly. All in all, he reeked of poverty. The funny thing was that he knew this, but he displayed it with pride. He wanted everyone to see what a tough time he'd been having. Nothing had been handed to him and he was ready to reap his reward.

He looked up to the ceiling and managed to spot slight movement on a catwalk in the shadows. There, where no one but Wolf could see, was Leon with a silenced rifle. The idea was that Wolf would set a calm mood by engaging Ramero in a card game, preferably poker which he was good at, and Leon would fire once he had a clear shot. As stated before, Wolf was banking on the theory that Ramero wouldn't recognize him since they hadn't laid eyes on each other in nine years. That said, he might still recognize Wolf's voice, so there was no guarantee that this plan would go off without a hitch.

After looking around long enough, Wolf spotted him. Sitting comfortably with a glass of wine in one hand and the other placed on a girl's waist as he talked and laughed with several other corporate-looking fellows, oddly not looking any older than when Wolf last saw him.

"Disgusting…"

Wolf took in a deep breath. He needed to keep his emotions in check, but how could he? The man killed his parents and practically laughed about it and acted like it was Wolf's fault. No matter. He'd be dead by sunrise, so what did it matter?

Once he'd stabilized himself, he walked up to Ramero.

"Kodek Ramero?" he said.

Ramero looked over at Wolf and scowled for a brief moment before smirking.

"Knocked out the guard, eh?"

For a moment, Wolf's heart skipped a beat in panic, thinking that Ramero had recognized him. But no. He sounded impressed. He'd never be impressed for something that Wolf did. The young O'Donnell instead nodded with a smirk of his own.

"Yeah. Figured I'd get in and try my luck. I hear you're a fairly decent poker player?"

"Not decent." the girl said sensually. "The best there is."

It really took a lot of effort for Wolf to keep himself from vomiting. This was the vilest man he'd ever known and this girl was eating out of the palm of his hand, and that was ignoring the fact that she was probably less than half his age.

"I see." Wolf replied. "I happen to have some experience myself. How about a quick game?"

Ramero looked Wolf over and grimaced.

"You don't look like the type who'd be up to my level."

"Well, that's fine. I mean, I heard you're fantastic or even the best there is as your lady friend just said, but if you don't want to…"

"…you got money?"

"Enough."

"Alright, then. Could be fun."

The two sat down at a nearby poker table, a dealer tossing them each two cards and laying three more face-down in the center of the table. With that, the game began, and so did Wolf's plan. Currently though, Leon wouldn't be able to shoot Ramero if he remained where he was since several onlookers began gathering around.

"Son of a…get out of the way, you idiots!" he mouthed.

They didn't.

"Great. I hate waiting…I mean, really. After holding one of these things for too long, you're kinda tempted to just start firing it all over the friggin' place."

He would have one chance at a clear shot if Wolf was able to play along with it. He'd need Ramero to stand up since his height would put him in the trajectory of the bullet. How would Wolf do that? Simple: get him angry.

"So what is it you do, kid?" Ramero asked.

"I'm a hunter of sorts."

"A hunter, eh? Well, to be risking your cash playing poker with me, you must be a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah…a bounty hunter."

Wolf checked his cards. A nine of hearts and a jack of spades. The three cards on the table were an eight of hearts, a king of clubs, and a five of diamonds.

"Bet five hundred."

Ramero smirked.

"You seem a little sure of yourself."

"Yeah, well, it's fun to leave luck to heaven once in a while, and I like to have fun."

Ramero smirked over at the girl he had his hands all over earlier, who promptly waved back to him in a rather coy manner.

"As do I…in more ways than one."

Ramero looked at his cards and thought for a moment before offering forward his own chips.

"I'll raise you two hundred."

"Done."

Despite giving off a friendly vibe, Wolf knew that Ramero was nothing short of a bastard. He was only being this friendly since he didn't know who he was dealing with. That said, he was able to see Leon struggling to get a clear shot out of the corner of his eye, so making him unfriendly was the way to go.

"Nah…I think I'll have some fun with him first."

The dealer flipped up the fourth card. A ten of clubs.

"I hear that you excel in the mining business, Mr. Ramero…or let me guess…"

He raised his eyebrow at Ramero's lady friend.

"The best there is, right?"

"You'd be an idiot if you thought otherwise."

"Naturally. Raise six hundred."

Ramero noticed a worried look on Wolf's face, and though he didn't show it visually (since there was such a thing as a poker face), he had a glint of satisfaction in his consciousness.

"You sure?"

"Of course."

"Alright, then. Call."

The fifth card was flipped up. A queen of clubs. Wolf raised another four hundred and Ramero called, as well as being the first to reveal his cards. Three of a kind for queens.

"Nice try, kid, but I know a bluff when I see one."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, sir."

Wolf flipped up his own cards. A straight. Wolf had just bluffed a bluff if that made any sense. Everyone around the two stood in surprise for a brief moment before breaking out in applause. Ramero himself showed a look of irritation before slowly applauding.

"Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."

"It gets better if you're willing to put up with it longer."

Ramero sneered.

"Fine. Could get a little more interesting."

Wolf took satisfaction in dragging a good sum of Ramero's money away from him, but it wasn't enough. No, he wanted to really let this guy have it before he died. They continued into the next hand, Wolf striking up a conversation that quickly became heated.

"Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"My business."

"Oh, right. So how do you do it, sir? Make millions upon millions of dollars like you're not even trying, I mean."

"Find whatever poor suckers are willing to do backbreaking work if it means they can put food on the table. Why do you ask?"

"I like to know the people I take to the cleaners."

"Don't get cocky, boy. There's always going to be someone who'll be able to prove you wrong."

Wolf scoffed in his mind.

"Not in this universe, asshole."

They continued to play silently with the crowd around them steadily growing larger, but they were too focused on their verbal battle of wits to really notice.

"I was unaware that was allowed in this day and age."

"It isn't, but at the rate I'm going, you could pretty much say I'm above the law."

"It all comes down to money, right? You can't obey the law if you can't survive in the world that demands it?"

"No. Laws are rules, and rules can be bent and shaped however certain people please."

"Certain people?"

"Certain people being those who've made their mark on society. People who are universally known with household names, or like we've established somewhat, people with enough money and power."

"And since you can bend the rules thanks to your status, you can get away with murder."

He expected Ramero to flinch when that was brought up, but no. He checked his cards before raising his bet.

"Yes. In fact I can."

"You seem almost proud to say that. What happened to not getting cocky because there might be someone to prove you wrong?"

"You, maybe. As for me, I've got so much cash I could swim in it and dozens of hired guns helping me out. I'm untouchable."

Wolf had to bite his lip to keep himself from smirking. The irony of that statement was stunning. But then the smirk died down when Wolf saw something a little unnerving. Ramero was looking straight into his eyes like he knew something Wolf didn't, and Wolf had a bad feeling that it had nothing to do with the poker game.

"These workers of mine, they're not exactly a happy bunch that are willing to do whatever I ask of them. I mean, I give them homes and a decent pay, but are they grateful? Do they appreciate what I've done for them? Of course not. They whine and complain like the little rats that they are."

That word again. That was how he saw those who were below him, but like any trivial thing, status could be changed or taken away from someone altogether. Sadly though, Ramero wasn't finished.

"In fact, there was a riot nine years ago where a huge group of my B ranked workers tried to escape. They'd been probably the most disrespectful people I'd ever met. Good thing I had a mole in that group, otherwise they would've gotten away and spoiled my image."

"And you had them killed…"

"All except the last two. I killed them myself. There was no hope for them to get out if the others were bad enough. They were the worst of all. Rodrick O'Donnell and his bitch of a wife…I'm glad they're dead. They never deserved to live and be happy as long as I was around."

Wolf gritted his teeth and clenched his fist under the table. The words alone were making him angry, but what really got to him was how casually Ramero was saying this. To him, separating someone from a loved one meant nothing. Wolf had sat down with him and thought for a moment that he would actually find something sympathetic, but now he knew that was just some backwards-ass cliché from lame drama movies. This was real life, and this guy really was a heartless sack of garbage.

He needed to calm down, though. It would all be fine soon enough. He looked back at his cards and saw that he had a full house.

"Interesting." he finally said. "So how about any business deals?"

"Well, I've been set up for a fairly decent one with General Caiman of the Venomian Army for a couple tons of uranium."

"Alright, that oughta be…wait…you're supplying Venom with uranium?!"

Why was uranium a big deal? One word: radioactive. Why was Venom a big deal? Not as simple, but simple all the same. One of Corneria's top scientists had been banished there for supposedly conducting dangerous experiments involving radioactive materials. In just a few months, this scientist named Andross had constructed an army and had declared war on Corneria. Evil genius or maniac with incredible intellect. You choose the more suitable title. IN any case, if Ramero was supplying Andross with uranium, that would spell absolute catastrophe for Corneria. Even scarier and more aggravating was how Ramero felt about the deal.

"Why not? I'm all about making money and they're paying. Besides, I don't live on Corneria. What do I care if they all die out?"

Wolf's anger had skyrocketed, and yet he surprised himself by still managing to keep it under control. That said, if he wouldn't get in trouble for wringing Ramero's neck in front of all these people, he would do it in the blink of an eye. This man didn't care if millions of innocent people died. He just cared about making money, and to that, Wolf could say he was almost as bad as Andross…maybe even worse.

Wolf showed his hand and Ramero showed his. Wolf sighed in disgust upon seeing that it was a straight flush.

"Alright, that'll do it for me." he groaned, standing up and offering his hand to Ramero. "Good game, sir."

He had hoped that if he did this, Ramero would stand up and finally give Leon the perfect shot he needed. But he didn't. Instead, he looked at Wolf almost angrily.

"Let me ask you something…did you really think I would forget you after all you've done, O'Donnell?"

As he slowly realized what had just happened, Wolf found the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head as one of Ramero's goons came up behind him.

"Oh, great…" he groaned.

Ramero smirked.

"You may have changed a lot since I saw you last, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize you. No one else would react like that when I talked about Rodrick O'Donnell. You're like an open book trying to force itself shut."

"Yeah, like that means something."

"What was that about your father telling you to give me hell? Well, you did give it to me a little bit. Letting all my C rankers go was a bad for my business and bad for your hide once I caught up with you."

"Caught up with ME? I hunted you down here, so who caught up with who?

"Even so, you can't honestly say that you expected to get away with a stunt like that. I'll admit, though: two years on your own. Not bad, but where did it lead you? Right back to where you started: in the palm of my hand."

Wolf didn't say it or show it, but he was scared and humiliated. Not only had Ramero figured him out, but he was going to have him killed. What he had forgotten, though, was that he still had a devoted ally.

As soon as Leon had seen the goon put a gun against Wolf's head, he scrambled to create a diversion. The whole plan may have been shot, but he wasn't just going to run off and let Wolf die. He unscrewed the silencer, aimed at the goon's head and fired. Everyone screamed and ducked down when they heard the shot ring out, and a few women fainted upon seeing the goon drop dead. Everyone, including Ramero and Wolf looked up at the catwalk where Leon had leaned into full-view.

"RUN FOR IT, WOLF!" he hollered.

Wolf obliged, but not before ripping his gloves off and clawing at Ramero. He aimed for his throat, but only managed to scrape across his face. Ramero let out a loud scream of pain as blood leaked from the four fresh scars, causing more of his goons to come forward and try to help him. With the way cleared, Wolf ran straight for the exit with Leon heading back out the way he came. They wouldn't be able to rendezvous after what just happened. There was no time for that.

So what could Wolf do? Run. Run as fast as God would let him, slashing at anyone who tried to get in his way and even managing to wrestle a shotgun into his hands. His heart was pounding before he even made it to the door, but he kept running.

"Dammit…" he growled. "I can't believe this…I underestimated him and good God, did it ever backfire!"

Whether the plan had backfired or not didn't matter to him now. He was running scared and didn't dare to stop even for a moment. He didn't have time to stop and catch his breath. He didn't have time for anything except running away before Ramero and his men could catch up.

Speaking of Ramero, once he had recovered, he looked all around at what had happened. A few of his guards were dead, he was badly wounded, and that little O'Donnell rat had gotten away again. Even worse was that the kid knew about his dealings with Venom. He would be arrested the second the Cornerian Army caught wind of that.

"That does it…that kid's gonna die like the wretched little dog he is!"

Ramero got to his feet and looked at his men with the angriest look they'd ever seen from him.

"Get them! Get them both!"

* * *

_**"We're going to steal a ship?"**_

_**"Commandeer. We're going to commandeer THAT ship."**_

_**...I just wanted to be able to say that. Anyhow, you probably know what a cliffhanger like that indicates.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden


	7. 6: Justice is Blind

CHAPTER SIX

**Justice is Blind**

By the time Wolf finally stopped running, he was miles away from the town and felt as though his heart was going to beat its way out of his chest. He was sweaty, tired, scared, and most of all ashamed. He had Ramero right where he wanted him. He had his chance at getting his revenge and he squandered it.

"I've made some stupid decisions before, but…this time I've really fucked up."

He suddenly and violently kicked the dirt under his feet with a loud shout of "DAMN IT!", letting it ring out through the sky. He had just realized that he had run in the wrong direction. He had landed his commandeered ship west of the city, and he had run north. He'd have to go back through the city if he wanted to get back to the ship and get off the planet, and with Ramero and his goons knowing that he was there, they'd be combing the streets and breaking down doors to find him.

And what about Leon? It was a stretch to really call him a friend since they'd only known each other for a few days, but they had been through a lot. A hefty load of planning, a spontaneous standoff, and an actual mission (even if it had been a complete failure). Not to mention Leon had spilled out a heart-wrenching story to him and Wolf felt sympathy for him. But did all of that make them friends?

"Well, Panther and I didn't go through anywhere near that much and he considered me a friend, so…"

This question suddenly became meaningless when Wolf saw a distant light. It took a moment for his eyes to focus and for him to see exactly what he was looking at, and was somewhat surprised to see that it was a large house with the outside lights on. It wasn't a mansion by any means, but it was still quite large. With a light squint, Wolf could even make out a garage next to the house with transparent walls, and inside was a small blue-and-white space fighter.

"Is that…an Arwing?"

The thought that one of the members of the mercenary team Star Fox lived here was surprising to say the least, and uplifting to say the most. There was no guarantee that they would take him in and shield him (whoever it was), but Ramero wouldn't be stupid enough to try and hunt Wolf down while he was in firing range of a member of Star Fox.

It was worth a shot, but Wolf wouldn't get that shot. He heard a loud bang from far behind him and felt a patch of dirt spring up from behind his foot. He reflexively jumped away from it with a yelp of "Jesus Christ!" and followed it up with a moan of "Oh, fuck my uncle…" Ramero and his men were coming fast, and Wolf was right out in the open.

"GET THE LITTLE SHITHEAD!" he heard someone shout.

Wolf's eyes darted all about, looking for any possible cover. He didn't expect to get out of this in one piece, but why not delay the inevitable just a little bit longer? Because leaving luck to heaven was fun, right?

Nevertheless, he found what he was looking for in a way: the rotten and torn ruins of what must have been a house at one point. It wasn't much, but there was enough left of the walls for him to duck behind them.

"Oh, sure! Hide! That's really going to help you in the long run!" Ramero yelled out to Wolf.

"I'd say more like a couple minutes!" Wolf shot back.

Ramero saw the barrel of Wolf's machine pistol creep over the top of the wall and aim right at him.

"This, on the other hand…"

"HIT THE DECK!" hollered one of the goons.

The bullets flew and Ramero and his men hit the dirt.

"That was a warning shot, Ramero!" Wolf yelled. "Next time, it'll hit someone, preferably you!"

Ramero spat the dirt out of his mouth and gritted his teeth. He got to his feet and proceeded to engage Wolf in a heated conversation. Why waste his time trying to force his way to the little punk when he could just draw him out with words?

"What makes you so brave that you'd try to hunt me down, knowing that I've got an endless supply of resources?"

"I've killed nine of your A rankers. Without those brainless jockeys taking your every order, you're practice. That, and you killed my parents right in front of me when I was eleven years old. Don't tell me you've already gotten Alzheimer's."

Ramero gritted his teeth and motioned his hand for a few of his men to move in. Meanwhile, he kept the conversation going.

"So that's it, eh? That's the only reason you want to kill me, and you killed several men just to find me again. Maybe we're not that different."

"No. I'm much different."

"How so?"

"Well, there's the fact that were it not for your money, girls would flock to me rather than you since I'm younger, taller and possibly stronger."

"Gimme a break…"

"And I'm not without mercy."

"And I don't deserve your so-called mercy?"

"Nope. Not in a million years. There's also the fact that you're making deals with Andross and not giving a damn about how many people will probably die because of it."

"Quit trying to sound like a minister of justice or some shit, O'Donnell. You're no better than me. In fact, you've killed far more people than I have."

It took no genius to figure out that statement implied that the only two people Ramero had killed were Rodrick and Nina. So did that mean that Ramero thought little of everyone, but thought that Wolf's parents deserved their deaths? Maybe not, but Wolf couldn't be convinced otherwise.

Just as he was sure rage was about to consume him yet again, he heard a light crunch of gravel under someone's feet. He smirked.

"Really? You really think that's gonna work?"

The men Ramero had sent sneaking forward quickly jumped around the corner and prepared to fire when they saw that their target was nowhere to be found.

"How in the…he was right here!" one of them shouted.

"He couldn't have gotten far!" yelled another one. "Find him!"

Before any of them had time to react, gun barrels pressed against their backs and bullets ripped through their chests.

"Surprise, motherfuckers…"

Ramero's ears pricked up upon hearing the loud shots.

"Did you get him, boys?!" he yelled.

Wolf mockingly poked his head around the corner.

"Let's see now, one, two…three…uhh, Ramero, just a tiny little heads-up, but I don't think you brought enough body bags."

"You useless little canine redneck, O'Donnell!"

"I have a first name, y'know…and redneck? Really?"

Now, what is a redneck? Just about anyone would tell you that a redneck is a low-class, idiotic and often loud and alcoholic person that tends to annoy the living hell out of everyone but stays out of trouble other than the occasional bar fight. Wolf smirked yet again with the knowledge that he was none of those things. In fact, the only thing that could even be considered proof of him being a redneck was his accent, and even then it was barely noticeable.

That last one was what really tipped it in his favour. He had plotted to kill someone, the plan had backfired…and now he was wanted dead or alive.

"Not even close, big boy." Wolf called.

"Oh, really? Then what are you?"

The shotgun barrel rounded the corner and aimed true.

"Just call me the Space Cowboy."

The blast rang out and the shells buried themselves into the chest of another one of Ramero's goons. Ramero himself was quickly growing more enraged as he continued to lose more men than he had bargained for, only made worse by the fact that it was being done by someone he thought would be easy to dispose of.

"That tears it!" he growled. "All of you get over and rip that snotty son of a bitch limb-from-limb!"

"But…he tore the rest of the guys apart, boss!" one of his men said nervously.

"Does it look like I care, you idiot?! Do it! Now! I wanna see him vomiting up his own blood, by God!"

"Someone's gonna be vomiting up his own blood, but it ain't gonna be me…" Wolf growled.

Wolf planted his claws into the stomach of the first goon to round the corner, kicking him away and leaving him to bleed out. Another goon rounded the opposite corner and fired, prompting Wolf to dive out of the way and retaliate with a barrage of bullets from his machine pistol. Needless to say, his accuracy was far more precise than that of his attacker. The one that made the foolish mistake of trying to strangle Wolf from behind was met with dismay and anguish when he was flipped over Wolf's shoulders, slammed into the ground and impaled through the chest.

Then came a somewhat sickening feeling in Wolf's gut. He wasn't sure why he was only beginning to feel it now, but he was actually starting to enjoy what he was doing. The big dilemma: why? Why was he enjoying killing these men? Was it because they wanted him dead and he was excelling at self-defence to say the least? Was it because of his never-ending anger at Ramero and those he served him for what they had done? He didn't know, but what was somewhat unnerving (not to him, of course) was that he ultimately didn't care. In his mind, they all deserved this. They were helping a homicidal bastard tense his grip on innocent peoples' lives, and judging from the knowledge that Ramero was in cahoots with Andross, they were betraying the entire Lylat System.

"In that case, they can all go to hell and I'll gladly be their escort."

The young lupine renegade felt his anger peak when he was suddenly hit in the side of the head, only to turn and retaliate upon the goon with a flurry of punches before finishing him by grabbing his head and slamming it against his knee.

Ramero's teeth were clenched so hard that he could swear one was beginning to crack. How had this kid who was barely even an adult survived this long? Not just in this huge standoff, but the two years he'd spent on his own. Even the seven years he spent in the C ranker facility was something Ramero was sure would put an end to Wolf. Yet here he was, holding his own against trained men. And just how was it that he was able to get an AWOL Cornerian soldier to help him, let alone it being Leon Powalski?

"Just who the hell does this little prick think he is…gah! Fine! I shouldn't have to do this, but I guess it goes to show that if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself!"

To say that Wolf was empowered by this surprisingly efficient turn of events was an understatement. He was feeling nothing short of a pure adrenaline rush. A goon made a punch at his head and he leaned backward, narrowly avoiding getting hit and responding with several jabs and a slash. He rolled forward at just the right time to avoid a shotgun blast, following it up with his own after getting his aim just right. As one goon came up behind him, he rose and planted his claws firmly into the man's stomach.

Then he made eye contact with the man he had just sentenced to the grave. The look on the man's face could only be described as a mix of pain, despair and even a bit of terror. This man knew that his life was over and he was afraid of what would happen next. Once Wolf pulled his claws back, the man fell dead on the ground and Wolf ducked down, looking at his hand like it was something he'd never seen before. The blood was still fresh in his fingertips, and so were the emotions welling up within him. He said himself that he wasn't without mercy, so why was he killing every single one of them? Yes, it was self-defence, but did that really serve as an excuse for…

"AAAGH, FUCK!"

Wolf reflexively grasped at his knee after the bullet had zipped in from nowhere and embedded itself into the side. He was pulled to his feet by his collar and forced to stare into the vengeful eyes of Ramero.

"My, how the tables have turned, eh, O'Donnell?"

"Yeah…you actually grew a spine and came to fight me yourself."

Ramero stumbled backward when Wolf gave him a sharp headbutt. The victory of getting loose was only short-lived, for when Wolf moved forward to try and shoot, Ramero kicked the shotgun out of his left hand and punched the machine pistol out of his right.

"Oh, fuck me…" Wolf thought in panic.

This thought came far too late, Wolf had no time to defend himself as Ramero got several strong punches to his face, one to the stomach and finally a kick to the leg that brought Wolf to his knees. With the bullet still stuck inside Wolf's leg, he had no strength to get back up, especially not after receiving a near-migraine from the severe blows to his head.

"If you want me to say I'm impressed by how long you've managed to survive, you can forget it." Ramero growled.

"Yeah…." Wolf panted. "I guess…nothing impresses you…no wonder you switch whores every other day."

Ramero struck Wolf across the face yet again, increasing his headache ever so slightly.

"Tell me, Wolf: how does it feel to be a failure from birth? You've lost your parents, your home, your dignity, and now you'll lose your life."

"If you're gonna kill me, then just do it. It's not like I've got anything to lose."

Wolf became both anxious and confused upon hearing Ramero chuckle above him. The next thing he knew, Ramero had crouched down and looked him in the eyes with the most sadistic smile he had ever seen on someone's face, only made worse by the now brutal-looking gashes on his face.

"Not true. You have so much left to lose."

He motioned to his goons, who promptly grabbed Wolf's arms and pinned them behind his back. Thus, the young lupine was completely defenseless as Ramero slowly drew a knife.

"You know what they say. It's all fun and games...until someone loses an eye."

With one flick of Ramero's hand, Wolf felt like time slowed down as his left eye's vision faded away into blackness, accompanied by a horrifying pain and a bloodcurdling scream. Wolf had never screamed so loud before in his life, but the pain was unbearable, and wouldn't anyone scream? Ramero had just gouged Wolf's eye out, and the cold-blooded maniac was (of course) indulging in this moment of Wolf suffering through a pain known only in Hell.

After several moments of watching Wolf scream in pain, Ramero pulled the knife back and kicked his victim to the ground, where his goons formed in and began to mercilessly gang beat the poor fellow. Wolf could let out only pain groans, not even making attempts to get up and defend himself. He could swear that they were kicking and punching him hard enough to shatter his ribs, and one of them may have even hit his kidney.

"Don't fuck with a guy like me…" Ramero seethed. "Especially not if you're a guy a like you."

All the men stopped what they were doing when they heard the cocking off a gun, looking up to find a middle-aged man standing there pointing a shotgun at them.

"Get off my property, you corporate bastards." he growled.

Ramero stepped forward with a smirk.

"What're you gonna do? Shoot us all?"

"No, pal. I can tell you're the ringleader of this whole ordeal, so I'll settle for shooting you."

"You so much as try it and I'll have you put away for the rest of your life."

"Newsflash, jackass: General Pepper's a good buddy of mine and he'd gladly spring me out and shoot you himself. Get lost. Now."

Ramero scoffed.

"Fine. He's learned his lesson by now, I bet."

The men cleared out, leaving Wolf to lay there on the ground in a small puddle of his own blood.

"Oh, God….am I dying?" he moaned.

He might as well have been. He'd been beaten to a bloody pulp, his left eye was gone, and he had failed. He had failed Leon, he had failed his mother and father, but most of all…he had failed himself. All he wanted was revenge. The old saying was "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life." If that was so, why was it that Ramero could kill Rodrick and Nina, but Wolf couldn't kill Ramero?

"Maybe he…maybe he was right…I'm useless…"

Wolf's ears weakly twitched as he heard dirt crunch under someone's feet. From what his remaining eye could see, someone was standing over him. He couldn't see who that someone was, but they were bending down and beginning to heave him up off the ground with powerful arms.

"Don't you go dying on me, son. Not after you put up that kind of a fight." a voice said softly.

"…Dad?" Wolf moaned.

That was all Wolf the strength to say before his injuries and shattered hopes took their toll on him. He slowly and steadily drifted into unconsciousness, leaving this mysterious stranger to carry him off to safety.

"Almost as brave as Fox, this kid."

* * *

_**Three guesses as to who this good Samaritan is if you'll excuse the Bible terminology.**_

_**Sorry that this took a while. I've kind of been really busy with school and stuff since today was actually my first day of college and I've been spending quite a while getting prepared for it. In any case, I know a lot of you are eager to see the good Samaritan in the next chapter (like how I'm pathetically dodging the bullet?), so I'll try not to let that take too long.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden

_Standoff on Papetoon- _"Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi (oh, come on. That had to be in there somewhere.)

_Lost an eye and left to die- _"Lost and Found" by Senses Fail


	8. 7: James

CHAPTER SEVEN

**James**

**The next morning…**

Wolf slowly awoke to a cooling sensation on his forehead. He had hoped that Ramero stabbing his eye out had just been a nightmare, but no. Only his right eye opened upon him regaining consciousness, though this eye managed to spot an ice pack resting on his forehead and bandages wrapped around his chest. These bandages were flecked with splashes of red, giving him a slight indication of how badly he had been injured the previous night.

"Where….am I…." he groaned.

He received no answer, not that he was expecting one. He took the ice pack off of his head and stretched for a brief moment, finding that he was lying in a rather large bed. Thus, he proceeded to look around the room he was in. He wasn't dead, that much was certain. The room was fairly clean, though also somewhat bare. There was a desk, a dresser, and a shelf, but nothing occupied them apart from a few books in the case of the last one. Despite being a rather lifeless room, it was at the same time spotless as though someone regularly came in and cleaned it regardless of the fact that no one lived in it. Small flecks of sunlight were pouring in around the edges of the curtains, and Wolf found himself standing up to draw them.

He realized only now that the landscape of Papetoon looked much better during the day than at night. The house he stood in was perched on a cliff, and in the valley below was a dense forest. Wolf smirked.

"Perfect hunting ground. If I had ducked in there, Ramero never would have found me…"

He still remembered in disgust what had happened the previous night. Just like he had when Rodrick and Nina died, Ramero practically laughed at Wolf's suffering, this time being dealt horrible physical damage. Able to just barely make out his reflection in the window, Wolf examined it and discovered something disheartening. His eye must have truly been down and out, for it was now covered with an eyepatch.

"Brilliant. Just call me Old One-Eye now….that sounded dirty."

That still left one thing on his mind. It was no coincidence that he had woken up in an admittedly nice room. Someone had brought him here…and that voice…he had asked if it was his father that night, but there was no way that could be true, even if it did sound somewhat like him.

"Only one what to figure it out."

Wolf steadily approached the door and opened it. He made his way down the hallway and crept down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. Looking out the window, he saw someone sitting on the front porch. Just like he had figured, it wasn't his father. It was a fox with light brown fur wearing a silver jacket and black cargo pants. Just as Wolf considered opening the door to speak with him, the man turned his head and smiled at him. He said nothing, but nothing needed to be said. Wolf was speechless upon getting a good look at the man's face, save for the man's name. A name that everyone across the Lylat System knew.

"James McCloud?"

He couldn't believe for himself even as he was seeing it. James McCloud, galactic hero and leader of the legendary Star Fox team. Wolf felt almost honoured that he was even seeing this man, but this would only grow as he opened the door and came outside.

"You're been sleeping for quite a while now." James said softly.

It was as Wolf had thought before. James sounded almost exactly like Rodrick, though unlike Rodrick, Wolf didn't feel as comfortable around James. He had made it a rule of his not to trust anyone he didn't know well enough since that seemed to really lead him to disaster nowadays, thus making it not too big of a surprise that he hesitated when James motioned for him to sit down. Nevertheless, standing there like an idiot would do him no good.

"So what's your name, son?" James asked as Wolf sat.

"Wolf O'Donnell, sir…uhh…were you the one who rescued me?"

"Yes. I have to admit that you lasted pretty long for someone without military training."

"How would you know that?"

"I'm trained to recognize those kinds of things. There were enough faults in the way you fought for me to take you down in less than half a minute if I wanted to. By that, of course, I mean your fist fighting. As a marksman, you're nothing short of a natural."

"Thanks…I guess."

"That said, you're still very lucky I found you. You were practically drowning in your own blood out there."

"…my eye's gone?"

"Sadly, yes. Completely punctured. The knife must have been damn near to hitting your brain."

Wolf bent over and clutched at his stomach, accompanied by audible gagging. James chuckled.

"Feeling alright?"

"I've been better…but you could probably figure that out just by looking at me."

It was hard to look James in the eyes, not just because he was wearing sunglasses and his eyes couldn't be seen, but because there was something eating at Wolf's conscience. Something he just had to get out.

"Why did you save me?"

"Eh?"

"I'm just a punk off the street…pretty much. You have much better things to do than saving me. So why did you?"

James' smirk disappeared, but he didn't answer Wolf just yet.

"First, I want you to tell me what you were doing here in the first place."

"Trying to kill Kodek Ramero."

"Several people have tried that over the years and failed, though in your defense you probably came the closest. Judging from those nasty scars on his face, the fact that he was chasing you and those deadly-looking claws of yours, I'd say you managed to make him very mad."

"That guy gets mad whenever things don't go his way."  
"Very true. So why, pray tell, did you try to kill him?"

Wolf told James every bit of his story so far, and James listened with the utmost interest. He grunted when Wolf told him about the death of his parents, and again upon hearing of Wolf's imprisonment in the C rank facility for seven years. Then when Wolf mentioned Leon…

"Powalski helped you?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah. The guy that went AWOL after his fiancée died, right?"  
"Yeah, that's him."

"I'd probably have done the same thing…hell, I'd say I'm nearly on the verge of doing the same thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, have a look around you, Wolf. I live out in damn near the middle of nowhere with nothing but the critters in that forest down there to interact with, and even then I don't go down there much. Not to mention my wife and son are both gone."

"Dead?"

"My wife, yes. My son is studying at the Cornerian Flight Academy. His name is Fox. That was his room you were sleeping in."

"Huh…so that's why it looked so lifeless."

"I'm still kind of oblivious to it. I keep thinking every day that he'll be home soon, but no…he's still got another couple years. Sometimes I go into his room and just sit there…just think about all the times when I'd tuck him into bed and come in to wake him up in the mornings."

James sighed with a satisfied smile.

"Those were the days."

"How old is he?"

"He's gotta be eighteen by now. Somewhere around your age."

"I'm twenty."

"No, he's definitely younger than you. Only by a couple years, though."

"…so what happened to your wife?"

Despite a question like normally being considered rude, particularly if one had just met someone, James seemed somewhat eager to talk about it, though he took off his sunglasses before he spoke and thus added a whole new layer of intensity to their conversation.

"My wife Vixy was the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and she's dead because of me. You've heard of Andross, correct?"

"Who hasn't?"

"To Andross, I'm a cancer. He put in a bomb in my hovercraft one day without me or anyone else knowing, but…she got in before I did and…"

"Dear God…James, I…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, Wolf. It happened almost sixteen years ago. Poor Fox just barely remembers his mom, but I guess he remembers enough to feel sad that she's gone. I suppose…she was like an angel to him."

"I know how that feels…"

He didn't know Fox McCloud and wouldn't pretend to know him, but he felt pity on him simply because he could identify with him. Nina had been like an angel to Wolf in more ways than one. Her soft voice, her warm touch, her soothing smile, and of course her otherworldly beauty…they were things that Wolf would never experience again. It hurt a little less to know that he wasn't the only one dealing with this, but the pity even extended to the fact that Fox had been only two years old when he had lost his mother. To lose your mother or father when your life has just barely begun…it was a pain unlike any other. A pain that hurt more than having an eye punctured or being beaten nearly to death by brainless thugs…

"So you see, Wolf…" James suddenly spoke up. "I saved you because you're trying your hardest to survive in a cruel life that may at times not even want you. I saved you because there was no one else that could. If you want to repay me, then just promise me that one day you'll do the same for someone else."

Wolf looked at James, utterly star-struck that such a tired and worldworn man would save someone like him just because it was his moral obligation. As soon as James had finished talking, Wolf felt something that he had felt for Panther and Leon, by more importantly for his father. Admiration. This was someone Wolf wanted to be like and would take great strides to be like. He wasn't sure how, but he'd try his best.

It wasn't furious men out for revenge that won wars. It was people who did the right thing.

"I will." he said before standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"I have a ship a few miles off the other side of Lez Velgas…which is probably the direction I should have run in last night, but hey. I was being chased. I wasn't thinking straight."

"And where will you go?"

"…I don't know."

James smiled and stood up in front of Wolf, putting his sunglasses back on as he did so.

"How about you work at making a name for yourself in a more justified manner?"

"…huh?"

"Sit tight. The cavalry's coming in."

Right as Wolf was about to ask what James was talking about, he heard loud rushing from high above. Moments later, the wind began to pick up, steadily growing stronger until two space fighters similar to the one in James' garage touched down on the ground. Once the wind had stopped, the ships' cockpits opened with their pilots climbing out. The first was an obese pig looking like he'd just come from the bar. There were three scars on his head, and he had an all-around unpleasant feel to him, not helped by his small and beady yellow eyes. The other pilot was a hare that was just under James' height if you didn't count his large ears and also looked a fair bit older than him. Compared to the pig, the hare seemed much friendlier judging from his soft brown eyes. Even his overbite made him more pleasant to look at.

"Wolf O'Donnell, meet my teammates." said James. "Pigma Dengar and Peppy Hare."

Wolf shook hands with both and avoided eye contact with Pigma.

"Nice to meet both of you…in any case, I've gotta hit the road." he said before attempting to walk away yet again.

"How are your flying skills, Wolf?"

"Eh?'  
"Your flying skills. How are they?"

"Uhh…I dunno, decent, I suppose."

"Why don't we hone them?"

Wolf took a good look at James before giving him a moderate smirk.  
"Let me guess. You brought me here with the full intention of training me so a fiasco like that never happens again."

"Exactly right." James replied.  
"And we're here to help you in any way we can." Peppy added with a grin.

Wolf didn't even think about why this would be. He simply shrugged.

"Sure. Why not?"

**Several hours later…**

After much trial and error in Wolf's case and much patience in the case of the Star Fox trio, the young O'Donnell finally got the hang of the flying game that the three older men were the masters of. Without a doubt, Wolf had become perfect at it. They had retrieved his commandeered ship from the other side of the city, and then flown down to the forest in the valley by James' house to train.

Once they had started, there was no stopping Wolf. For the ground exercises, he had to hunt down all three of the men stealthily before they had the chance to spot him and get away, and he found them all within a very short period of time. Even with one of his eyes gone, Wolf could still rely on his keen sense of sight to spot his targets, and if that didn't work, he could sniff them out or listen for any sounds they'd inadvertently make. When it came to flying, Wolf would have to chase down the holographic targets, and this was where he had some trouble since space was tight.

"I see what the problem is." James said. "You're flying too offensively. Letting your rage get the best of you, if you will. You need to think straight and quickly when you're out there on the field of battle, not act on primal instinct."

"Yep." added Pigma. "If that happens, you might as well put a sign over your face sayin' 'Look, Ma! I'm roadkill!'."

Pigma chuckled at his own joke, and even though it was fairly juvenile, Wolf found himself cracking a smile. The porcine pilot had made a rather pitiful first impression with his unkempt appearance, but he made up for it in personality. He seemed like a good and light-hearted fellow…even if he did smell a bit like dogshit.

Once that hurdle had been cleared and Wolf adjusted into using his head rather than his emotions, taking down the targets became so easy that he could practically do it in his sleep. He could swerve in between the trees at a breakneck pace, figured out how to lock on to the targets and fire charged shots at them, and Peppy even taught him the barrel roll, which could repel enemy fire if pulled off with proper timing and was useful for checking blind spots. Wolf even showed off a little by looping around and up through the trees, turning off the engine so that he plummeted downward, and then suddenly turning the engine back on and continuing flying upside down. It didn't accomplish anything in terms of combat, but was visually a very impressive spectacle.

There was no doubt about it. If Wolf wasn't a flawless pilot (which he certainly wasn't), he was at least a superb one. He had learned all of these at a phenomenally fast rate, even faster than the more experienced pilots had, and by the time their training was over, he felt more empowered than he had ever been in his life.

"There's no doubt about it, son." James said in an encouraging tone as they all landed in front of James' house and exited their vehicles. "Whatever comes your way, you're as prepared as you'll ever be."

Wolf had never admired James more than in those couple seconds of compliments. Here was a man that he could call his idol. A man who was already considered a hero by practically everyone in the Lylat System was giving a heartfelt compliment to a kid that he barely knew.

"I can't thank you guys enough." Wolf said with a smile before proceeding back towards his ship.  
"Where are you going?" asked Peppy.

"I'm going to try and hunt down Ramero again. It won't be so easy this time…granted, it wasn't easy to begin with, but with the things you guys taught, I'm pretty sure I can get him once and for all."

"Then what?"

"…huh?"

"So you're going to kill Ramero. What happens after that?"

Neither his expression nor his eventual response showed it, but Wolf had been praying since he began this quest for revenge that no one would ask him that. The truth was that he didn't know what he would do. He didn't know where he'd go or even how he could live after he pulled it off. It was like Leon had said before: killing Ramero would have dire consequences, being that he would be hunted down for arguably the rest of his natural life.

He didn't want to say it, but there was no hiding an answer for this.

"…I don't know."

James smirked before clapping his hand down on Wolf's shoulder.

"You see, Wolf," he began. "The reason I decided to take you under my wing is because I think you can be better than a killer…hell, I KNOW that you can be better than a killer. I mean, think about it. This is Kodek Ramero you want to kill, one of the richest business men in the entire system. If you kill him, every bounty hunter in the cosmos will be after the price someone is bound to put on your head and you'll just end up running until the end of your days. Is that what you want?"

"I…I'm just furious at him. He took everything from me."

James smiled and looked deep into Wolf's eyes. In that moment, Wolf was chilled to the bone but oddly comforted at the same time.

"Not everything. Wolf O'Donnell, I'm going to make you an offer that I don't think you'll refuse. You can be more than just an angry killer. You can be a hero."

Thus, James held out his hand and made his offer.

"Will you join us as a member of Star Fox?"

The question had hit Wolf harder than a bag of hammers to the face, and he found himself asking over and over in his mind "What did he just say?!". This kind of oppourtunity was something he'd never dream about in a thousand years, but here it was, and all he had to do was stay for a few hours of training…and lose an eye on James' property, but that was beside the point.

The fact that James had offered this oppourtunity to Wolf made the young O'Donnell admire him even more. Suddenly, that confused moaning of "Dad" from the previous night didn't seem so strange. In the eyes of James McCloud, Wolf saw something that he had been sorely missing for the longest time, and in his hand, Wolf saw the oppourtunity of a lifetime.

Wolf smiled warmly and grasped James' hand, setting the ground for greater days to come.

"Yes."

* * *

_**Unfortunately, if you the backstory of Star Fox 64 at all, you'll know that this isn't going to end well.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden

_Standoff on Papetoon- _"Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

_Lost an eye and left to die- _"Lost and Found" by Senses Fail

_Wolf and James- _"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas (yep.)


	9. 8: Degeneration

CHAPTER EIGHT

**Degeneration**

**One week later**

**In orbit above Planet Venom**

Other than Ramero's scarred face from that night, Venom was one of the ugliest things that Wolf had ever seen. It wasn't devoid of life or anything, but from how poisonous its waters were and how the air was just barely breathable, as well as how ominous the landscape looked, it might as well have been. It had been bad enough that the Star Fox team had cut to through the Area 6 Defense Zone to get to Venom, but there still lay the fact of what they were there for.

"Peppy, what have you got for us?" asked James.

"According to Pepper's intel, the base is in the southern hemisphere at about…fifty degrees west, 30 degrees south."

"Okay. Let's get down there and see what that slimy son of a gun is up to."

The slimy son of a gun being Andross. As Peppy had just said, Corneria's General Pepper had received intelligence on strange activity coming from Venom. Star Fox was immediately called to investigate, though James and Wolf had been particularly suspicious since the source of the information was unknown. Nevertheless, they were there already, so there was no sense in arguing about it now.

"Hey." said James to Wolf. "You alright?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah. Just a little anxious, I guess." Wolf replied, scratching at the back of his head.

"Don't sweat it, son. We've got your back. Just stay alert and prepared for anything and you'll get by just fine."

Wolf smiled. It seemed James could always find a way to lift his spirits, even if he wasn't trying to.

"Thanks."

"Get ready, boys!" James instructed. "We're headin' in!"

The four ships swerved down through the blackened sky toward the craggy and ruined landscape below. If there was ever a beautiful planet to be found here, it was certainly long gone by now. Wolf had once heard that many decades ago it had been a flourishing paradise filled with wildlife, and in those days, the planet had been called Valor. Then it began to decay, all the wildlife turned hostile and deformed, and it became the abomination that everyone knew all too well today.

That, and there was a complete maniac hiding out on it.

"Christ, what a mess…" Pigma groaned.

"No kidding." Peppy replied. "If someone gave me a million bucks to live here for one day, I'd sooner throw it all over the side of a bridge."

Wolf kept in mind throughout this whole escapade that Ramero had supplied radioactive materials to Andross. They could be faced with some heavy resistance, and he wouldn't be surprised if one of them got badly injured. He cursed himself for his self-doubt, but it was something he had picked up after the absolute failure of his assassination attempt on Ramero. He lost because he had drastically underestimated his opponent and didn't take into consideration any advantages that they might have.

"I'll be sure not to make that mistake again…" he growled to himself.

"Whoa, whoa, heads up!" Peppy exclaimed. "Got something on the radar. Dead ahead and coming this way!"

The group looked ahead and spotted what seemed to be a large fissure in the ground that hadn't been there moments ago, and all four tensed their grips on their ships' steering control once they saw numerous Venomian ships shoot up out of it and begin barreling toward them.

"Alrighty, boys!" Wolf barked. "Can't let a single one of these suckers live!"

"Someone's sounding a bit bloodthirsty…" Pigma chuckled. "Don't let it get to your head, kid."

"No time for life advice! Here they come!"

The enemy ships came by the dozen, but the four Arwings held firm and blasted through them like butter. Each of them veered off in a different direction to avoid getting hit before retaliating with a barrage of laser fire. James shot off to the side, drew two enemies close, and then released a charged shot to take them both down before dropping just as another came zipping towards him. Unfortunately, this same enemy swerved around and continued chasing him.

"Damn. Wolf! Mind gettin' this guy off my tail for me?"

As if on cue, Wolf jammed his steering control all the way to the left and got in behind James, blasting down his pursuer with incredible ease.

"No trouble at all. These guys would have better luck fighting their own shadows."

James gave a loud hoot of laughter.

"Never heard it put quite that way before, but yeah! You're right!"

Peppy and Pigma paired up and looped around a group of Venomians, each locking on to and firing a smart bomb at the one closest to the center. The two bombs slammed into the ship and sent two massive blast radii shooting through the air, wiping out any and all ships within range.

"Nailed those sons of bitches!" Pigma cheered.

"It's too early to celebrate." said Peppy in moderate alarm. "Look!"

As quickly as Peppy had said that, several large turrets snaked out of the valley walls, swerved around toward the fur ships and began firing. It was enough that the turrets were firing at an almost impossible speed, but they were motion-tracking, steadily swerving toward the back of the Arwings.

"Everybody do a barrel roll!" Peppy yelled.

The four ships spun, reflecting the laser fire back onto the turrets and disabling them.

"No doubt about it. Andross is up to something." Wolf grumbled. "He wouldn't set up all these defenses just because he felt like it."

"I'd normally call you on something like that," said James. "But quite honestly, that sounds exactly right."

"How do you figure?"  
"Partly because I highly doubt that you'd make a mistake regarding something like this, and partly because I want him to be up to something so I have another reason to put my fist in his face."

In that moment, Wolf felt even greater sympathy for James than ever before. Part of him was doing this because it was the right thing to do, but another part of him that was steadily taking over was doing it for revenge. After all, Andross had killed James' wife. If that didn't make them enemies, then nothing would. James didn't show it, but he was angry. Angrier than he had ever been in his life. Wolf looked upon that anger and felt frightened because that was exactly how he had felt about Ramero when he and Leon headed off to make their assassination attempt. Wolf had been the angriest when he had gotten so close, and what had happened? He'd nearly been killed. Thanks to this, he grew an extreme sense of paranoia as he began to have a feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. It was just a matter of when.

Up ahead, the valley split off into two paths, each looking roughly the same but still stirring up that feeling of uneasiness.

"Pigma, you and me are gonna take the left." instructed James. "Peppy and Wolf, you've got the right."

"Got it!"

Wolf jammed the steering control off to the right, following Peppy into the branching path.

"How are you feeling?" Peppy suddenly asked.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem tense. You're not scared, are you?"

"No, of course not."

"Good, 'cause I'm terrified."

"Huh?"

Peppy sighed and leaned back in his seat with a saddened smirk.

"I may be getting up there in years, but I still have a lot left to live for. Hell, James and I are actually pretty similar."

"How's that?"

"You know how James has a kid and lost his wife when the kid was still young?"

"Oh, God, you too?!"

"Well, no. My wife and daughter are still alive, though my wife's pretty sick right now."

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I have a feeling she'll get through it alright."  
"I hope so. What are their names?"

"My wife's name is Vivian and my daughter's name is Lucy. She's in her last year of high school now. I guess what I'm getting at is that I have a family to go back to, so if I die here…I'd leave them all alone with nothing else but each other. Lucy's already scared that one day I'm going to go and get myself killed, and I had to swear on my life that I'd get back home safe today."

Wolf smiled.

"Don't worry, Peppy. You're going to get back to your family tonight whether Andross likes it or not."  
"Thanks…so you're with us to the end, Wolf?"

"Count on OH, SHIT!"

"OH, SHIT!" because a great amount of giant stalagmites began shooting out of the valley's walls, forcing Peppy and Wolf to drop and swerve all over to avoid getting hit by them.

"Sweet Jesus, I nearly had a heart attack!" Peppy panted.

"Join the club…" Wolf responded. "Shit, that was close…"

James' voice immediately buzzed from over the communication line.

"What's going on over there, guys?"

"Nothin'…just nearly got hit by a big hunk of rock, that's all." Peppy replied.

"Well, we're getting swarmed by bogies over here, so I'd say you boys are going down Easy Street."

"PEPPY, LOOK OUT!" Wolf suddenly screamed.

Peppy turned his head just in time to see a large snake-like machine shoot out the ground and barrel right towards his ship. The rabbit pilot swerved off to the side right away and forced the machine to slam into the ground, where it burrowed downward and out of sight again.

"Thanks, Wolf…damn, I need a vacation."

"We gotta get this sucker and get outta here before we all get torn apart."

"No worries. The base isn't too far now."

"I sure as hell hope not."

They exited the valley with James and Pigma following from the other branch soon afterwards. No sooner had they done this when the snake machine appeared from the ground yet again.

"You again?!" Wolf growled. "I'm already sick of your ugly mug!"

"Got a weak spot for us, Peppy?" asked James.

"Gimme a second…got it! We're gonna wanna aim at that node on the midsection!"

"You heard him, boys! Shoot that node!"

It was as if the machine had heard them, for it quickly began slithering about in the air before coming toward the first ship it could reach: Pigma's.

"Son of a bitch! Get off me!" Pigma shouted, jamming his steering control all about in a futile attempt to break free.

"Pigma, stop thrashing around!" Peppy yelled. "That'll just stimulate it to tense its grip!"

"That's what she said! Now get me outta here!"

James steadily aimed the crosshairs on his monitor and held down the fire button, setting his lasers to charge. If he was just a hair off with this shot, he'd do some fairly heavy damage to Pigma, and this would probably be the worst possible place for anyone to crash land. Once he was at least partially sure he wouldn't hit his comrade, he let fly with the charged shot. It successfully slammed into the node, splitting the machine in two and freeing Pigma from its clutches.

"Coulda done it a little sooner…but thanks, anyway." the porcine pilot breathed.

"Don't sweat it, Pigma." James said with a smirk. "Besides, I thought you liked it rough."

"Yeah, ha ha. Real funny, McCloud."

"Look lively, boys!" Peppy barked. "We're coming up on the base!"

The four Arwings steadily landed on the surface with all four pilots jumping out with loaded guns and heavy anxiousness. The first uncomforting thing was how rough the ground felt under their feet, and the second was that although the air was breathable, it didn't even seem to matter because…

"Ugh, smells of sick..." Wolf groaned.

"The smell's the least of your problems." said James. "All set, boys? Good. Let's head in, but keep your wits about you."

Wolf felt the weight of his machine pistol in his hand as they entered the facility through the large hangar bay, somehow knowing that he was going to be firing the gun off far more times as he had the night he lost his eye. With Ramero's men, it had just been a couple of brainless gunmen. They were dealing with heavily trained soldiers now. Granted, soldiers died by the hundreds each day during war, but they didn't spend months training just to stand there and soak up bullets. They fought back, and they fought back hard.

"So what's the plan?" he finally asked.

"No plan. Just search every room." James replied.

"…huh. That doesn't sound too risky to you?"

"Believe me: in this type of situation, I've done worse."

Wolf stifled a laugh.

"Yeah, I'll bet…"

"Hey, I was a pretty wild boy back in the day. Hell, I'd prefer to stay young forever, but reality has different plans for me. For all of us."

Reality did have a different plan. The fantasy was that they'd pull this mission off without a hitch. The reality was that a solider had just rounded the corner a good distance away from them and spotted them.

"Oh, shit!" he exclaimed, quickly drawing the team's attention as he touched his fingers to his communicator. "Code red! Repeat! Code red! We've got intruders in Sector GAAH!"

He couldn't even finish his sentence before Pigma whipped out his revolver and landed a perfect headshot.

"Nice shootin', Tex." Peppy joked.

"I try…heads up!"

Sure enough, dozens upon dozens of Venomians came streaming into the room from the direction that the first one had come from, prompting the four mercenaries to hide behind whatever structures they could to avoid the gunfire.

"We won't be able to anywhere with those guys bearing down on us like this!" Peppy shouted over the intense and almost unbearable noise. "James, what do we do?!"

James' eyes scanned all about the massive metallic room, looking for any sort of thing he could use to provide them with a secure escape into the next hall. Thankfully, he found it: a large fuel tank suspended above the center of the room. Oddly convenient, but it came with an inconvenience: there was no way to hit without putting himself in the line of enemy fire.

James smirked.

"Eagle Eye! You're up!"

That had become James' nickname for Wolf: Eagle Eye O'Donnell. Wolf never missed those tricky shots that James and the other boys could never seem to land, and this moment was certainly no exception. Wolf positioned himself at just the right angle, got focused with a light crack of his neck and fired off a single bullet. It bounced off the wall and shot back up toward the chain holding the tank, and once it struck, the tank fell to the ground. Just before it hit, Wolf aimed at it.

"Warning. Contents under extreme pressure." he said under his breath before popping off another shot.

The second the bullet punctured the tank, it exploded, sending a fiery shockwave shooting through the room. Girders were bent out of shape, pieces of the roof were blown away, and every single Venomian was blown off their feet and against the walls were they ceased to move. Once the raging heat and noise subsided, the four mercenaries poked their heads out from behind their cover.

"All clear!" Peppy sighed. "Good goin', Wolf!"

"Pff. Piece a' cake." Wolf replied in a cocky tone.

"Alright. Let's keep looking." James ordered. "Reinforcements won't be far behind after that little stunt."

They set off running down the hall, and as they did so, Wolf kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the materials Ramero may have shipped. He figured that now that he was a member of Star Fox, he couldn't just outright murder Ramero unless he did something illegal, which he had, but he hid the evidence fairly well. If Wolf could dig that evidence up (for example, taking a picture of anything bearing Ramero's company name), he could get a warrant for Ramero's arrest, and even though Corneria had abandoned the death penalty a long time ago, they could still imprison criminals for life. If Wolf was lucky enough, he could have Ramero shipped off to the CFE Megaprison on the planet Kew, and that was arguably worse than the death penalty.

There was something else that bothered Wolf, though. It seemed certain that Andross was up to something sinister here, but if that was the case, wouldn't it have been more likely for them to meet with far heavier resistance? Andross seemed like the kind of person that would have giant mechs fighting them off or something along those lines and they had just seemed to barge right in. It was too easy.

"So how were you planning on confronting Andross, James?" Peppy asked.

James looked over his shoulder at Peppy with a solemn expression. Though Peppy couldn't see his friend's eyes, he knew that they were full of nothing but determined anger.

"I guess it's as simple as putting a bullet right between his eyes…"

James' expression changed to confusion, and he turned his whole body around.

"Wait…where did Pigma go?"

Wolf and Peppy spun around, only to find that James was right. Pigma was nowhere to be found.

"Goddammit, that idiot probably ran off to go blow something up again…" James grumbled. "He just never learns, does he?"

"Oh, I would say he has." said a voice from behind them. "He's certainly learned that working with you gentlemen will not help him in the long run."

The second James spotted he had spoken, he knit his brow so closely and gritted his teeth so heavily that he seemed to be almost shape shifting into a creature of pure rage.

"You!" he growled.

Indeed, the man that stepped out of the shadows was an ape who stood at nearly seven feet. His white hair was slicked back and trailed down to his chin into a short beard, and he wore a very clean lab coat. Most importantly, he bore a look of triumph, almost of demonic proportions.

It was Andross, and for an old and brainy ape, Wolf found him far more intimidating than he had expected.

"James McCloud." he said in a deep and imposing voice. "How touching that you finally decided to pay me a visit."

"Now that I've touched your heart," James started as he and the other two raised their guns. "Our bullets will touch your brain."

"Ah, the young and arrogant. So cocksure that their escapades will go exactly as planned. Never worried about the consequences of recklessness."

Wolf's ears pricked up as he heard the loading of several guns behind them.

"I would not turn if I were you, lad." Andross warned. "My men are…how should I put this…somewhat territorial."

"Ah, shit…"

"Now, if you gentlemen would be so kind as to place your weapons on the ground in front of you."

The three obeyed, and all three grew very angry once they saw Pigma step out from behind Andross.

"You son of a bitch, Pigma!" Peppy yelled. "You sold us out!"

"Sorry, boys." Pigma said, though the smirk on his face contradicted his statement. "The big man here's got me hooked up for life."

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any greedier, Dengar…"

Wolf meanwhile was the angriest of all.

"How did I manage to get betrayed on this kind of scale twice in my lifetime?!"

The worst part about it was that it had once again been from someone that he had grown to trust. The only difference was that with Pigma, one could think in the back of their mind that he would do something like this. He simply looked the part of a greedy and dastardly lowlife, and that assumption hadn't been wrong.

Pigma shot Andross a glance.

"By the way, those snake bot things. Might wanna fix those up a little bit. They go down way too easy."

"I shall take that in mind." Andross replied before turning to the captive Star Fox members. "Now then, where were we? Ah, yes."

He pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it down at James. Wolf and Peppy immediately made an attempt to stand and stop him, but were quickly restrained by the soldiers.

"You are a fool, James McCloud." said Andross with a shit-eating grin as Peppy would call it. "You did not honestly think that you could just waltz into my facility and expect to come out without a few bumps and bruises, if you came out at all?"

James looked up at the barrel of the gun, knowing that within a few minutes, he would be dead. He looked back at Wolf and Peppy, both of whom wore similar expressions of terror. To their surprise, he smiled, reached up, and took off his sunglasses before looking back at Andross.

"The seeds for my revenge have already been sown."

"Ah. Your son, eh? You suppose that he will carry on your legacy."

"Whether he does or not…I still love him as much as a father can."

"A pity, really. I almost feel sorry for doing away with you…almost."

"Do your worst."

And the worst he did. In one quick flash, James fell lifeless to the floor, the manner in which his eyes were closed forcing Wolf and Peppy into denial of his death. But when he didn't rise and they heard no breathing from him, they knew denying it would only make it worse. Peppy gritted his teeth and looked away, unable to bear the fact that his best friend was dead. Wolf, on the other hand, continued to stare in shock at the body of one of the greatest men he ever knew. His pain was far worse than Peppy's ever could be even if Peppy had known James much longer.

The nonchalant way James had accepted his death…his haunting last words…it was just like that night nine years ago. The night Wolf had been forced to watch his mother and father die right in front of him. This whole thing was like watching his father be murdered all over again, and it was still as painful now as it was then.

"Now then," Andross said, shrugging off James' death the same way Ramero had shrugged off Rodrick and Nina's deaths. "The two of you ought to…"

Andross couldn't finish his sentence before Wolf sprang into action. He elbowed his restrainer, kicked the gun out of Andross' hand and picked up his own gun before blasting Peppy's restrainer.

"PEPPY! RUN!"

Wolf quickly cleared the way, flipping between soldiers and scissoring their throats or blasting them full of holes before Peppy finally recovered from the shock and started running as fast as he could. Wolf didn't stop firing until he was sure Peppy was out of range, but didn't stop fighting until he was subdued yet again when a soldier brought his foot up into his groin. Wolf crumpled to the floor, gasping for air and looking up at Andross who was surprisingly lightly applauding him.

"Well done. Well done indeed. Wolf O'Donnell, I presume."

"Yeah…" Wolf moaned before giving a light cough. "What's it to you?"

"A fellow I recently made a transaction with brought me a man who claimed to know you. Perhaps you would like to see him?"

A pair of soldiers dragged out and threw down a slender and beaten-looking man, and as soon as Wolf saw him, he was even more shocked than ever.

"Leon?!"

Leon promptly looked up and stared at Wolf for a few seconds before responding.

"Sweet mother, Wolf! You're alive?!"

"I should be asking you that!"

"How did you...oh my God!"

It was at that moment that Leon saw James' body lying in front of him. To see one of Lylat's greatest heroes lying dead not three feet from him was disturbing to say the least.

"On to business, then." Andross said. "I have a job for you three men."

Wolf steadily got to his feet as Leon helped him up and looked venomously at Pigma.

"If you think I'm going to work with this bastard after what he's just done, you've got another thing coming."

"Well, I am afraid that it is either that or I have my men kill your friend as well."

Wolf froze his tracks. He was still unsure of what he thought about Leon in terms of friendship, but he was sure enough that he didn't want Leon to die.

"…what do you want?"

"As James said before he so tragically passed on, the seeds for his revenge have been sown. That is to say his son Fox will likely want vengeance on me, and seeing how he is attending the Cornerian Flight Academy, I have no doubt that he will be as skilled as his father if not possibly more so. We have secured a Cornerian base on the planet Fichina, so I would like you and these two gentlemen to intercept him there. Of course, you will be rewarded quite handsomely if you succeed."

Wolf scowled at the greedy look Pigma suddenly had in his eyes, wanting to claw it off right then and there. However, Andross wasn't finished yet.

"And to insure that nothing foolish is attempted…" he said before snapping his fingers.

A smaller ape stepped out with a pompous look on his face. Already Wolf despised him.

"This is Andrew Oikonny, my nephew." Andross said. "He will report back to me once your task has been finished, and he will not hesitate to inform me if anything goes wrong."

"If you screw up," Oikonny said in a shrill and nasally voice. "I'll know, and so will he."

The voice and the tone in it made Wolf hate Oikonny even more

"Rest up now, men. You move out tomorrow."

Leon, Pigma, Oikonny and Andross all left the room, the soldiers exiting soon afterwards. Wolf, meanwhile, knelt down by James' corpse, holding him up and taking his cold and lifeless hand. At least he hadn't been dragged away from James like he had been with his parents, but how could something like this happen to him again? Did everybody he cared about just spontaneously drop dead? Was he cursed, or did whoever was up there just hate him with a passion?

He didn't know, but what he did know was the single tear shedding from his and dropping onto James' forehead as Wolf meekly whispered as though James would hear him.

"Dad…rest in peace."

* * *

_**Okay, so admittedly this took far longer than it was supposed to, but the one saving grace is that the chapter you've all been waiting for is coming up next...and yes, Wolf will say that particular line.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden

_Standoff on Papetoon- _"Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

_Lost an eye and left to die- _"Lost and Found" by Senses Fail

_Wolf and James- _"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas

_Another father gone- _"Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park


	10. 9: Enter Star Wolf!

CHAPTER NINE

**Enter Star Wolf!**

**One week later**

**In orbit above Planet Fichina**

Sitting in his ship never felt any different to Wolf. Though it retained the same basic structure, it had been painted dark gray and red as opposed to the standard Arwing colors of white and blue. It had also been given a new collective name: Wolfen. For some reason, Andross seemed to favour Wolf and immediately announced him the leader of this group, as well as a name for the group.

"Star Wolf." Wolf thought, scowling at the name. "We sound more like a cheap knockoff than a rival gang."

"Alright, they're within range." said Pigma. "Let's get in there and reap our reward, boys."

Wolf groaned in disgust. Was that all that Pigma thought about? Unfortunately, the porcine sleazebag didn't seem to be the only one who wanted to do away with Fox.

"Well, O'Donnell?" Oikonny said. "You're the leader here. Give us the order already."

Wolf had the initial thought of telling Oikonny to shove it up his ass and was fairly close to saying it, but he knew that wouldn't do him or Leon any good. He wanted Andross dead as much as the next guy, but he couldn't risk someone else's life to do so.

Besides, no one said he had to kill Fox. He just needed to stop him from getting to Venom. That said, he still needed to make it sound like he wanted to kill Fox, but there was no way he'd do it for real. James' last words still haunted Wolf, though. The seeds for James' revenge had already been sown…if Fox was anything like Wolf, he wouldn't stop until his parents' killer was gone.

Wolf sighed.

"Fine. Star Wolf, move in."

The four Wolfens descended into the atmosphere, through the thick clouds and down to the barren and snowy landscape. A light snowfall was going on, the flakes melting the instant they touched Wolf's windshield. The planet itself was fairly beautiful with a bright sky and beautiful white environment, but the large structure below and the four blue and white ships blasting down Venomian ships as fast as they could.

"Alright, Fox is definitely down there." Pigma said as he sent a group of images to Wolf's monitor. "Looks like Peppy's still in the game, too."

Wolf has happy to see that Peppy had made it off of Venom in one piece, but it was Fox he was the most interested in. Aside from being much younger and lacking sunglasses, Fox was a spitting image of his father as Wolf had somewhat expected. He was a good-looking boy, making it more of a shame that Wolf had to fight him.

"Who are these other two?" asked Leon.

The other two were a green-skinned frog wearing a baseball cap and a blue-feathered falcon with a rather cynical look on his face.

"Slippy Toad." Pigma replied. "He's one of Fox's closest friends and he's apparently a pretty skilled mechanic. He pilots like shit, though, so we might be in luck."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Dengar." Wolf growled. "What about the bird?"

"That would be Falco Lombardi. Ex-vigilante, previously the leader of group called the Hot Rodders. He's a bit ego-centric. Doesn't play well with others."

"Then why the hell did he join the team?"

"That's his problem."

Leon stroked his chin.

"Doesn't play well with others." he repeated. "Sounds like my kind of guy…he's mine."

Pigma chuckled to himself.

"Hoo, boy, won't Peppy be pissed to see me again. This is gonna be priceless."

"I'll take the frog." Oikonny said.

Wolf gritted his teeth.  
"Great…guess I got McCloud, then…move in. Intercept their communications channel."

After a little tampering, they were able to hear the banter between the teammates.

"Uhh, guys?" Slippy asked. "Why exactly are there ships coming out of the base like they're on fire?"

A robotic voice responded, which Pigma had stated was likely a former military probe called ROB 64.

"Confirmed. A bomb has been planted at the base."

Then Wolf heard Fox speak.  
"Jeez…can anybody take care of it?!"

They couldn't hesitate anymore. The four Wolfens zoomed into view.

"Can't let you do that, Star Fox." Wolf said solemnly.

"What the…" sputtered a cocky and accented voice, likely from Falco. "Who the hell are you?!"

"We are Star Wolf," Leon replied. "And Andross has ordered us to take you down."

"Ooo-hoo-hoo, yeah, you're real scary. Come get me, then!"

Pigma flew up alongside Peppy and smirked at him until he turned his head.

"Holy mother of…" Peppy started.

"Peppy! Long time, no see…a week, but it's a long time in my book."

"You son of a bitch, Pigma!"

Andrew swerved down toward Slippy and immediately began firing like a madman on the poor frog.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! What gives?!" Slippy yelled.

"Andross' enemy is my enemy!" Oikonny responded.

Fox looked over at Wolf right as the latter came barreling towards him.  
"You're mine, McCloud."

Fox gritted his teeth.

"I don't know who you are, but I don't care. If you get in my way, I'll annihilate you!"

Judging from that line, Wolf had confirmed two things. One was Fox was naturally going to fight back to the best of his ability since no one could stop him from gaining his revenge. The other was more of a personal blow to Wolf since Fox had said he had no idea who he was. That would indicate that Peppy hadn't told Fox anything about him. Given that Peppy and Wolf had only known each other for a week, it wasn't really that surprising since they had barely known anything about each other anyway.

It didn't matter. The second Wolf had swerved toward Fox, the latter took off like a bullet as if daring Wolf to go after him, and go after him he certainly did. For a moment, Wolf had no idea why. This was the son of a man he admired beyond anything else, almost as much as his father. So why was he going after him without a second thought or any form of mercy for that matter?

Then he began to realize what was going on and felt sick to his stomach when he realized it. This was the exact same sensation he had gotten when he had been fighting off Ramero's goons and even killing the Venomians. It was the thrill of the hunt as Leon would put it. He was actually starting to enjoy taking others' lives, or in this case chasing after someone he perceived to be far weaker than him. The big question was why. Why did he enjoy this? Was he degenerating into the same kind of person as Andross and Ramero? It certainly seemed like it.

Before Wolf even had the time to try and talk himself out of it, he pushed the fire button, sending a barrage of lasers flying at Fox's Arwing.

"Mind telling me who you are before you try and kill me?" asked Fox.

"Wolf O'Donnell."

"How quaint. Is that all you're going to tell me?"

"It's all you really need to know. It won't matter since you'll be seeing your dad soon, Fox."

He could feel Fox's anger quell up on the other end of the comm.

"Only if you can catch me, you son of a bitch."

He couldn't blame him for saying that since mentioning his father was hitting below the belt in the worst kind of way. What really hit him was what Fox had said. It reminded him of all the times Nina had come home saying that Ramero had called her a bitch. It wasn't like Fox had known anything about this, but Wolf frankly didn't give a damn.

"You're dead, McCloud."

"We'll see."

Leon blasted away at Falco, who simply twisted, turned and did everything he could to stay out of his line of fire.

"Annoying bird…I am the great Leon!"

"Shakespearean, buddy. Fuckin' beautiful. Too bad you can't aim to save your life."

"Too bad, indeed. I'll blast you down and watch you bleed out if I get half the chance."

"Alright. Then do it! C'mon, I dare ya!"

Leon held down the fire button for a brief moment and released a charge shot that Falco was just barely able to dodge, nearly colliding with the ground as he did so.

"…uhhh….y'know I was kidding, right?"

"Shame. I wasn't."

"Aaaah, shit…"

Peppy swerved out of the way of Pigma's laser fire. Pigma himself simply laughed.

"No worries! I'll do you fast, Peppy old pal!"

"Goddamn you, Pigma!" Peppy spat. "How could you just turn against your own friends like this?! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"I got no worries or shame so long as I get my reward! Now hurry up and die!"

"You son of a bitch…"

Peppy wasn't the only one disgusted by how Pigma was treating this, but Wolf and Leon were far too busy with their own individual targets. By now, the thrill of the hunt was taking effect on both of them. Neither of them thought of the repercussions of their actions. Their instincts were telling them Fox and Falco had to go, so if there was even a slim chance, they were gone.

Fox strafed back and forth, barrel-rolling as he did so to deflect anything Wolf fired at him. After taking some time to adjust to Fox's pattern, Wolf waited for the precise moment and fired a charged shot. Then came the big shock: Fox suddenly hit the brakes and looped over Wolf, placing himself directly behind him.

"What the fuck?!" Wolf sputtered.

"Guess your coach didn't teach you how to do that, eh?" Fox asked with a moderate smirk.

"Great. You know one trick I don't know. You really think that's gonna save you?"

"Yes. Thank you for asking."

As the rest of the team had somewhat expected, Oikonny was giving Slippy a fairly hard time, not letting up on him for even a second.

"For goodness sake, get off me…GAH! Dammit!" the frog whined as he just barely missed getting hit by another laser. "This is really starting to piss me off!"

"Then next time, just stick to the pond, froggie!" Oikonny cackled.

Falco swerved downward and veered off to the right just as Leon jetted toward him again. He looped around a nearby radio tower and proceeded upward with Leon still following him.

"You know, you're not as tough as I thought." the chameleon sighed.

"I haven't even tried to hit you yet, smartass. And trust me when I say it's gonna hurt."  
"Looking forward to it."

"…huh?"

Much to Wolf's surprise, even though Fox was a few years younger than him, he already seemed more experienced. Perhaps that was because he had been a student at the Cornerian Flight Academy (a dropout by the looks of it, but a student nonetheless), while Wolf had been tutored for only a couple days before heading out on was pretty much became a suicide mission. Now Wolf was being chased all about for a few moments, and he realized yet another strategy of Fox's: hit-and-run tactics. He got in, took a few shots, and then got out of the way before he could get shot himself.

"Not bad, McCloud. I think I've underestimated you."

"If you're trying to set a friendly mood, it's not working."

Peppy swerved all about, trying to shake Pigma off his tail but to no avail. Every time he tried to get somewhere, Pigma followed closely behind. It eventually came to light that Peppy wasn't going to get away on his own when Pigma landed a successful shot on him.

"Doggone it…take care of the guy behind me, Fox!"

As if on cue, Fox veered away from Wolf and began targeting Pigma instead, and he attacked him far more furiously. Of course, why wouldn't he? Pigma had been the one who betrayed his father and left him to die while he had gone on to live his life as though it meant nothing. Much to his own surprise, Wolf did nothing to stop him even as Oikonny nagged him about it.

"What are you doing, O'Donnell?! He's attacking your teammate and you're just going to let him?!"

Wolf looked over at Oikonny with a smirk and replied with that one simple and rude gesture using only that one finger. Oikonny quickly grew as red as a tomato and only became angrier when Slippy had managed to sneak in a quick shot.

"Ha! Boom, baby!"

"Gah! You little…"

Pigma started looking all about in panic when he felt his ship suddenly get bombarded with laser fire, and upon looking behind him, he grew enraged.

"Y'know, I never really liked you that much, kid."

"Right back at you, fat bastard. See you in hell…"

With that last line, Fox let fly with a charged shot, and it collided with Pigma long before he had even a second's chance to get away.

"My beautiful reward! Goddammit!" he cried as his Wolfen steadily plummeted to the ground.

"Phew!" Peppy breathed. "Thanks, Fox. You're becoming more like your father."

That was more than Wolf could say for himself. He was nothing like his father, but it wasn't like he was legally required to be. In fact, being exactly like his father wasn't what Rodrick or Nina would have wanted.

"Nice display of heroism, McCloud." Wolf spoke up. "I'm still gonna kick your ass, though."

"Bring it on!"

Slippy dashed all about, Oikonny following him closely behind. Then Slippy got somewhat crafty. He flew closely to one of the radio towers surrounding the base, and the second Oikonny was close enough behind him, he pulled up and out of the way, leaving Oikonny uselessly scrambling to try and avert his ship away from the tower. Too little, too late as they say. He smashed into, severing a wing as his ship's engine failed in a smoky mess.

"UNCLE ANDROSS!" he cried before his ship when down in the same manner as Pigma's.

"Good riddance!" Slippy called after him.

That left only Wolf and Leon, and these two would perhaps be the hardest of the four to take down. What matters worse, though, was…

"Red alert!" ROB blared. "Base in critical condition. Five minutes until detonation."

"Fox! Falco! Hurry up!" Peppy hollered.

"We're goin' as fast as we can, Gramps!" Falco shot back. "Don't get your ears in a knot!"

Then came perhaps the most intense moment of the entire dogfight: Fox and Wolf had halted a good fifty feet away from another, looking directly into each other's eyes. Neither of them backed down from the challenge the other presented, and for several moments, they seemed to be locked in a battle of courage. Finally, they both gripped their steering controls and floored their boost pedals, rocketing toward each other at a fantastic speed.

They seemed to both have the same idea in mind, because right when it seemed they were about to collide, they slammed on their eject buttons. They shot upward out of their ships into the cold winter air before falling to the ground and landing on their feet, leaving their ships motionless in the air.

The fall had been close enough to the ground that they wouldn't sustain any injuries, but far enough that it still sent shocks throughout their bodies. There was no time to lie down and complain about it, though. The second Fox and Wolf made eye contact, the former broke into a run, sprinting away from the latter as fast as he could.

"Oh, no you don't!" Wolf shouted, using his wrist remote to pilot his Wolfen safely to the ground before running after his prey.

That was it. The thrill of the hunt had taken Wolf over completely. He wanted to pounce on Fox and tear him to pieces. When he looked at Fox, he didn't see the son of James McCloud anymore. He saw everything that had ever made him suffer in his life, and it infuriated him…made him into a wild animal…made him like…

"No. I'm nothing like that bastard and I never will be." he thought, damning himself for thinking that for even a split second.

Fox continued running, but Wolf was steadily catching up. Before long, Wolf was able to close the distance with a lengthy jump onto Fox's back, seizing him and dragging him to the ground. They wrestled in the freezing cold snow for a minute or so, grabbing at whatever bit of each other they could find. Suddenly, Fox shot his head forward and slammed it against Wolf's nose, loosening his grip enough for Fox to slip his foot under his stomach and kick him off.

Once Wolf got to his feet, Fox held up his fists and stood almost defiantly. Wolf smirked.

"Alright, then. Let's fight."

Wolf made the first move, dashing forward and slashing with his claws. Fox shifted around the attack, and Wolf suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a giant flurry of punches and kicks. Fox was just a superb pilot. He was fast…really, REALLY fast. However, that only left a very exploitable weakness: he had tremendous speed, but subpar strength. Granted, he wasn't the weakest person Wolf had ever met, but he was still nowhere near as strong as many others.

And thus, this became what Wolf exploited. The second he had focused, he grabbed Fox's leg as he came in for another kick and slammed his elbow into Fox's knee. Fox let out a sharp cry of pain, but still managed to wrench his leg free and deliver a roundhouse kick to Wolf's face. Once Wolf had recovered, he flexed his fingers, showing off his claws.

"Care for a little battle of blades?"

Fox reached under his silver jacket and withdrew a long knife.

"Could be fun."

This time, Fox was the first to attack, giving a quick swipe with his knife. Wolf stepped away, then stepped back in and stabbed at Fox with his claws. Fox deflected it, and the two rushed each other once again. For several moments, the two were locked in close quarters combat, both swinging just as effectively and just as quickly. It was a surprise to both. They were evenly matched. Neither one was seeming to win…until Fox jumped back and kicked up a huge mass of snow, obscuring Wolf's vision for a brief moment. Once Wolf had swatted the snow away, however…

"What the…where'd he go?!"

It was true. Fox had strategically used the few precious seconds he had to escape. But there was no way he could have gotten far! Wolf could sense him.

His eyes roamed all about until he spotted a nearby radio tower. The tower was wide…wide enough for someone to hide behind it. Steadily, he crept along, trying his hardest not to make a sound. Right when he reached the tower, he jumped around the corner and withdrew his machine pistol…only to find that Fox wasn't there.

"What…how did he…"

Suddenly, Wolf heard a loud battle cry behind him and spun around just in time to see Fox springing out of the heavy mass of snow before him. It was too late to block him, though. Fox planted his knife against Wolf's neck and pinned his gun arm to the metal wall. The two stood panting for a brief moment, staring deeply into each other's eyes. Wolf knew that the second he made a wrong move, Fox could and most likely would slit his throat.

Fox gritted his surprisingly sharp teeth and whispered menacingly.

"Don't push it…don't push it, or I'll give you a war you won't believe."

Wolf said nothing. Fox spoke again.  
"Did you have a hand in killing my father? Did you?!"

"…no. I'd never even think of it."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"You'll just have to trust me."  
"Trust you. Trust you after you just tried to kill me."

Wolf was very tempted to tell Fox the real reason about why he was here, but there was no conceivable way to get him to believe it for even a moment. It may have been true, but it was still too farfetched.

"There are more important things going on than you and me right now."

Fox eased the knife's pressure before slowly retracting it and proceeding toward the base to deactivate the bomb, though not before turning on his heel and pointing at Wolf.

"Stay there. I'm not done with you."

Wolf obeyed. The thrill of the hunt had finally worn off, helped when Leon backed off after seeing that Wolf had been defeated. As he waited for Fox to return, he thought about how Fox had beaten him. He had utilized speed, strength, and stealth in the most efficient way to beat his enemy. It was impressive, but it was that certain kind of impressive that still made Wolf angry. He couldn't beat Ramero, he couldn't beat Andross…and he couldn't even beat an eighteen-year old boy. The feeling confused him, but he'd have to think about it later. Fox returned from defusing the bomb and stood cross-armed in front of Wolf.

"Alright. Explain."

"I can't tell you everything."

"Why not?"

"Simple. You won't believe me."

"Whatever. Just tell me the facts."

"I was there when your father died, but I had nothing to do with it. He was a great man, Fox."  
"So I'm told. Get to the point."

Wolf reached into his pocket, and Fox thought for a moment that he was about to pull a weapon on him, but then he pulled out the greatest memento Fox could ever receive: his father's sunglasses.

"You...you kept those?"

"Yes...because somehow I knew I'd eventually be giving them to you."

Wolf placed the sunglasses in Fox's hand. Fox stared at them for a brief moment, entranced that Wolf had respected James this much, before slowly putting them in his pocket.

"All you need to know..." Wolf continued. "...is that he'll be proud of you no matter what you do. He loved you more than life itself."

Fox's brows eased up, signalling his anger steadily fading away.

"…what were his last words?"

"He said that seeds for his revenge had already been sown. He knew that there was no way anyone could stop you from taking your revenge…and I won't stop you, either."

"You won't follow us?"

Wolf had no intention of following Star Fox when they were this good, but he didn't forget that he ahd been out for revenge, too. There was no way he could have it directly now, but if he had some indirect help…

"No. But in exchange, I want you to do something for me once you reach Venom."

Fox groaned in disgust. The last thing he wanted to do was make a deal with this guy, but perhaps it was worth it if he and his team wouldn't follow him.

"Let's hear it."

"You know Kodek Ramero?"

"The Macbeth Quarries CEO?"

"Yeah. If you see his company's brand on Venom at all, take a snapshot of it."

"Are you telling me that he's been making dealings with Andross?"

"Only one way to find out, right?"

Fox's wrist communicator buzzed and Falco's voice crackled over it.

"C'mon, Fox! Ditch that joker and let's head for Solar!" he yelled.

"Alright, I'm on my way. Gimme a second."

Fox looked at Wolf one last time, giving a quick smirk.

"Even if you're not going to be following me to Venom, I've got a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

Wolf responded with a smirk of his own.

"Count on it. Now go. Avenge your father, and don't let anybody stand in your way."

Fox nodded and proceeded back to his Arwing. Once the team had blasted up into the atmosphere, Leon landed next to Wolf and hopped out.

"That went well." the chameleon sighed.

"Indeed it did."

In what seemed like a matter of seconds, Pigma and Oikonny had trudged up to Wolf with very cross looks on their faces.

"You let them get away!" Oikonny yelled.

"Yeah. So what?"

"Let's get after them right now!"  
"No. I made a deal with Fox, and I'm a man of my word."  
"You also promised Andross that you'd kill him!"

"I didn't promise Andross anything. Personally, I hope Fox blows his brains out."  
"H-how dare you!"

"What's the big idea, O'Donnell?!" Pigma growled. "Andross promised us a big wad of cash and you're just let it slip away from us?!"  
"By 'we', I guess you mean 'you'. James' biggest mistake was letting you onto the team. Look at you. You're a money-grubbing coward."

"You snotty son of a bitch!"

Pigma suddenly seized Wolf's neck, but Pigma hadn't been in a child labour camp for over half a decade, making it no surprise that Wolf easily pushed him away before suddenly clawing the top of his bald head. Pigma cried out in pain and leaped away from Wolf with a now frightened look. Oikonny stepped forward with gritted teeth and clenched fists, but got cold feet once Wolf looked at him menacingly.

"Oh, you want some too, monkey boy?! Huh?!"

Oikonny and Pigma backed away before turning and running as fast as they could, climbing into their Wolfen's escape pods and rocketing away as fast as they could. Wolf and Leon stood there smirking as the two cowards fled practically in tears.

"Pathetic." Leon grumbled.

"My thoughts exactly." Wolf replied before turning to him. "How about we keep this little gang together, just the two of us?"

"Really now? What do you propose we do?"

"A better question is what do you propose we don't do. There's a whole galaxy of oppourtunity out there. We can do whatever we want, and aside from Star Fox, who's gonna stop us?"

"You mean like renegades?"

"Exactly like renegades."

Leon thought it over for a brief moment before laughing.

"Sounds like fun. Alright. I'm in. So do we stick with Star Wolf as the name or do we change it to something a little less cheap?"  
"Nah. We'll stick with Star Wolf. It's kind of stuck by now."

**A few days later…**

A few days after Fox and Wolf had their encounter on Fichina, it was announced over the Cornerian News Network that Star Fox had been victorious. Andross had been killed and the remains of the Venomian Army had scattered across the galaxy. The entire planet was alive with cheers and celebration, but was soon followed with surprise upon seeing the next headline.

It turned out that Fox had kept his promise. Star Fox had successfully found a tanker bearing Ramero's company brand, and upon showing this evidence to General Pepper and receiving a warrant to look through Ramero's transactions, he was found guilty of treason, worker abuse, and a plethora of other crimes. Thus, he was sentenced to a fate that many argued was worse than death and reserved only for the most corrupt of criminals: banishment to the planet Kew.

From somewhere far away, Wolf smiled at both his moderate retribution and Fox's victory. He was somewhat proud of Fox, but that feeling he had gotten on Fichina had come back full force. He respected Fox, but still held a grudge against him. He felt humiliated and honoured at the same time…and he wanted more of it.

The thrill of the hunt had returned. It was subtle, but it was there. Ramero was no longer the target of Wolf's obsession. Wolf had found himself something more worthwhile than a nemesis.

A rival.

* * *

_**Told you he'd say it.**_

_**For all those who wanted to see Ramero dead, this may not be too satisfying, but don't worry. I don't think Ramero's done with Wolf just yet.**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden

_Standoff on Papetoon- _"Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

_Lost an eye and left to die- _"Lost and Found" by Senses Fail

_Wolf and James- _"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas

_Another father gone- _"Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park

_Enter Star Wolf- _Star Wolf theme (any version, though the one from Assault is my personal favourite)


	11. 10: Strange and Unexpected

CHAPTER TEN

**Strange and Unexpected**

**October 25****th****, 2033**

**Somewhere on Planet Katina**

In less than a decade, Wolf and Leon had accomplished far more than they had initially set out to do. Leon's advice that you couldn't follow the rules if you couldn't survive in the world that demanded it had become more like his motto, and that motto had been what held the group together.

As for what they had done, they had become pure rebels. They ran from the law, they robbed banks, they got into street fights, and crafted themselves into public enemies. Despite that, they had their limits. They never took hostages and never killed innocents, especially not if there were women and children involved in their acts. Some may have called it spineless and it made them nothing less than common thugs, but they called it mercy and honour.

They hadn't come into contact with Star Fox again, however. Going up against apparently four well-trained mercenaries (the apparently directed at Slippy) when there was only two of them wasn't brave or honourable. It was reckless and stupid. It was a shame, because Wolf had steadily improved his skills and thought he was ready to go up against Fox again. That said, though, he knew Fox would have improved himself, as well. After all, he wasn't a kid anymore. He was twenty-seven years old. He'd surely have gotten smarter and far less reckless by now.

Besides, what if Fox had forgotten about Wolf? It had been almost ten years since they last saw each other. Then again, Ramero hadn't seen Wolf in the same amount of time and he had still remembered him, even though Ramero had been in his fifties at that time. Speaking of Ramero, Wolf had almost completely forgotten about him. He was so eaten up by his rivalry with Fox that Ramero just seemed like dust in the wind now.

Wolf smirked at that thought. He was probably even older than Peppy. He'd literally be dust in the wind soon enough. It wasn't like he was getting off of Kew, anyway. Kew was no vacation spot. It sat at the very edge of the Lylat System and was labelled by the more superstitious Lylatians as cursed, even going as far to say that if one were on the planet for too long, he or she would steadily go insane.

Like he had been for the past near decade, Ramero was nothing to Wolf now since the latter was simply attending a bar with Leon somewhere in the slums of Katina to stay out of Cornerian Army detection. It was a fairly decent place. Not too crowded, not too vacant. A few pool tables set up, some fairly good drink,. The people simply sat and chatted in private and didn't seem to notice when the two renegades came in…it was a good place to just sit and rest for a while.

They sat and ordered drinks, discussing the past week's events and what they were planning on doing next. Then Leon got up to go to the bathroom and left Wolf to think to himself.

"Fox…I'm not finished with you. Not by a damn sight."

It suddenly occurred to Wolf that someone had sat down next to him. He had the feeling that whoever it was simply stared at him, as if trying to bore holes in the side of his head. Wolf himself didn't dare to turn to see who it was out of a lack of interest, but then the stranger spoke.

"Hello, Wolf."

Wolf's ears pricked up when he noticed two distinct things about the voice. It was high-pitched, and it sounded eerily familiar. He turned to see a young boy, probably about ten or eleven years old sitting next to him and staring at him as though he were looking through him. An even stranger sense struck when Wolf when he realized that this boy looked familiar as well, but how did he get in here? Wolf hadn't heard the boy come in, and it didn't seem that anyone else had noticed him.

Wolf smirked.

"Now what's a young fellow like you doing in a place like this?"

"The same reason as you."

"Ah. I see. This doesn't seem like a spot you'd be into, though."

"Looks can be deceiving. Besides, we both just go where we please, don't we?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Nope, but I know you."

Wolf chuckled under his breath.  
"I guess my reputation precedes me. Not a bounty hunter, I hope."

"No, but I don't see why it would matter if I was."  
"And why's that?"  
"You wouldn't kill a kid, Wolf."

"You're right. I wouldn't. There's no excuse for it."

"Like how there's no excuse for holding a grudge when you're the antagonist."

"…excuse me?"

The boy gave an amused half-smile. Wolf had no idea what the kid was trying to do, but it was starting to give him chills. A little kid was giving a wanted criminal chills. History in the making right there. It was the subject matter that the boy was referring that had gotten to Wolf. How could he possibly know about that confrontation with Star Fox on Fichina? It was almost ten years ago and hadn't been reported on the news as far as he could tell, so how could one little kid know about it? And besides, wouldn't he have been a baby back then?

"My name is Luke." the boy suddenly said.

Wolf shook off the deep and confusing thoughts and returned to his calm demeanour.  
"Luke what?"

"Just Luke."

"Well, 'Just Luke', I'd like to know a little more about you before you start bombarding me with cryptic questions."

"You escaped from the C ranker facility on Macbeth?"

"Wha…yes, but…"  
"So did I."  
"…huh?"

"Surprised? Don't be. I've been around just as long as you have."

"Could've fooled me."

"Then you'd have fooled me."

"…kid, I don't know if you've realized it yet, but you're not making any sense. My suggestion is to stop being a nuisance before I really get angry."

"Hey, you said yourself you wouldn't kill a kid."

"Who said I was going to kill you? I have claws, for goodness sake. I threaten to skin you alive and you'd be sitting there pissing yourself."

Luke's half-smile vanished and was swiftly replaced with that soul-piercing stare again.

"Alright, let's cut the crap, Wolf. I know what you were thinking about. You were thinking about going after Star Fox again so you could show Fox just who the better fighter is."

"Of course. Anybody could tell you that."

"Nobody had to. By why are you 'hunting' Fox if I may be so bold?"

"Is that any of your business?"

"It's your business, and therefore it's mine."

"What do you want?"  
"So you'll beat Fox. Then what?"  
"Eh?"

"What'll you do after you beat Fox? That's all your escapades up until now have been training you for, right?"

"You're well-spoken, kid. Too bad you're annoying me."

"Think about it. Fox is the son of someone that you've willing admitted being inferior to, and you've seen for yourself that he's a chip off the old block. Even with how tough you've gotten over the years, you still think you can beat Fox? And even if you do, what happens afterwards? Is your life finished once you finish his? Is his downfall the only reason you're still alive?"

Wolf paid no attention to the little life lessons Luke seemed to be trying to cram into him. The only things that ran through his mind were how this kid wouldn't leave him alone and how Leon was taking way too long in the bathroom.

"Alright, listen, kid. I don't know where your parents are, but they should know better than letting you talk to someone like me."

"Our parents are dead."

" 'Our parents'?! What, you think you're my brother or something?"

"You know."

"I know what?"

"You know more about me than you think you do. Try using your head."

Wolf lowered his face into his palm. This kid was a total nightmare. How did he know this much about Wolf and why was he bombarding him with questions that made no sense? Once he had the good sense to finally look up and tell the kid to get lost, however…

"Where'd he go?"

Just as quickly as Luke had been there, he was gone. Once again, there had been no sort of effect. No one had noticed him enter or leave. Wolf hadn't even heard him get out of his seat. He had just looked back, and Luke had seemingly vanished into thin air. Not that Wolf wasn't glad the kid had left since their conversation had actually started to really get under his skin, but now he was wracking his own mind with questions, one of which towered above the rest.

"Just who the hell was that kid?" he grumbled to himself.

He was thankfully able to stop wracking his mind about it when he spotted someone else out of the small group of people: a tall, dark-furred cat standing by one of the pool tables with his arm around a girl's shoulder.

"Wait a second…is that…"

Wolf realized who this man was in a split second and devilishly smiled. He got up from his seat, walked over to the man and brought two claws up to his throat from behind. The girl standing next to him gasped, and all the others gathered around the pool table looked at Wolf in shock. The man himself didn't move.

"Eleven years, buddy." Wolf said. "Eleven years and you're still that suave son of a gun I remember from back then."

Panther chuckled and turned to face Wolf.

"And you're still as sneaky as…good God, what happened to your eye?"

"Jeez, man. You see me again for about three seconds and that's the first thing you notice?"

"Why wouldn't I?! Your fucking eye is gone!"

Leon had finally come out of the bathroom and sidled up next to Wolf.

"Alright, I'm back. Who's this guy?"

"Leon, this is Panther Caroso. Panther, this is…"

"Leon Powalski." Panther interrupted with a light smirk and an offer of his hand. "Your reputation precedes you."

Leon smirked in return and shook Panther's hand.

"Wolf's told me about you, Caroso. He says you were good friends while the two of you were in that labour camp."

"Is that what he's calling it?" Panther asked, raising an eyebrow at Wolf. "I seem to remember him saying it was more along the lines of Hell."

Wolf laughed.  
"Yeah, that sounds exactly right. Now then, let's have a sit and hear what you've been up to."

* * *

As it turned out, Panther had seemingly been doing a lot since he and Wolf had seen each other last. He'd lived on the streets of Corneria for a little while just like Wolf had, but he found himself with a job as a janitor in a nearby museum before long, later being promoted to maintenance and then quitting that job to work at the Grand Cornerian Airway as a mechanic, where his boss and co-workers said he could fix just about anything.

"Now I'm just a good-for-nothing guy who happens to be quite the ladies' man." He concluded before looking over and giving a sly wink to the girl he'd been standing with earlier. She promptly smiled and coyly waved at him before he turned back to Wolf. "Hey, Wolf. You mind letting me see that eye for a second?""

"Uhh…alright. There ain't much to see, though." Wolf replied, lifting up his eye patch.

Panther winced upon seeing the gruesome display, but nevertheless examined it carefully before beginning to stroke his chin and smile.

"Hmm…yes, I think you'd be just about perfect."

"For what?"

"For being outfitted with a little thing I got imported from Earth."

"And by imported, you mean you snuck on board a freighter once it landed on Corneria and stole it, right?"

"Hey, look who's talking."

"Anyway, what exactly do you mean 'outfitted'?"

"Well, let me answer that with a question of my own: how'd you like to be able to see out of both eyes again and still retain that tough image that's associated with having an eye patch?"

"Wait…you can fix my eye?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. What do you say?"

"Is that even a question? I mean, really. You ever tried aiming a gun with only one eye? ...it's actually pretty easy, but I'd still like to see through both eyes again."

Leon turned his head towards the door upon hearing it open and quickly looked away when he saw who had entered.

"Uhh, guys? I think we've got trouble."

"What?" Panther asked with a smirk. "Some drunken rednecks wanting to tear the place apart?"

"Nope. Bounty hunters."

"…shit."

Wolf shot a quick glance toward the door and spotted four teenagers (two boys and two girls), with various holsters lining their belts, none of which were for guns. All of them had a strange tattoo running along their foreheads, and all of them had dark expressions on their faces. Wolf smirked.

"You shittin' me?" he muttered before he turned back to his companions. "They're practice."

"I didn't say they wouldn't be." Leon responded. "But just one look at them and you know they're gonna wind up doing more damage to this place than we are."

"Shame." added Panther. "This is a nice place. So do you take them head-on?"

"Not much of a point. They'll come to us."

Sure enough, they did.

"Wolf O'Donnell and Leon Powalski." said the tallest boy. "Get up."

"Who's asking?" asked Wolf without looking at him.

"The Luna Guard. We've been ordered to bring you in dead or alive, and we'll be more than happy to bring you in dead.""  
"Luna Guard…" Leon repeated. "Well, I've never heard of you, but I will say that's a bit more of a creative name than Star Wolf. Granted, a sixth grader could come up with a better name, but I digress."

Panther suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Ah, yes! I remember hearing something about you kids. You're that lowlife gang that tends to humiliate their targets and beat them to a bloody pulp before bringing them in."

"Watch your talk, shithead." said one of the girls.

"I can hear my talk. I can't watch it…and pardon my intrusion, but is that a whip on your belt?"

"Yes, and you'd better shut up before I use it on you."

"Go ahead, sweetheart. I like it rough."

The girl curled her hands into fists and was about to pull her whip on Panther when the tall boy stopped her.  
"We're not here for him." he growled before turning back to Wolf and Leon. "We don't want to cause a disturbance amongst civilians, so I'll demand you again to get up."

"You DON'T want to cause a disturbance?" Leon asked. "From what Panther's telling us, you kids are pretty good at that."

"We aren't kids."

"Yeah, well, if you're adults, then I'm a senile old fart."

The shortest boy pulled out a laser sword and pointed it at Leon.

"Shut up! Shut up before I slice your head clean off!"

"A sword? What is this, a fuckin' samurai movie or something? And you've got four of those things! Don't you think that's overcompensating at least a little bit?"

"I swear I'll kill you!"

Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Sheesh. Take a chill pill, will ya, kid? You're giving me a headache."

"Doesn't matter." the tall boy said. "You will come with us right now."

"Or what?"

"Or we'll kill you."

"Hmm…get taken in by a couple of bratty kids who frankly shouldn't be in the bounty hunting business since they're just doing it because they think it'll make them look cool…or kick the bucket? I dunno, what do you guys think?"

Leon scoffed.

"The bucket, definitely."

"Like there's really that much of a choice in the matter." Panther added.

"That's enough!" the boy shouted. Get up and come with us now!"

None of them responded and simply went back to their drinks, not wanting to even bother dealing with these brats and waste even more of their time. The second girl brought a knife to Wolf's neck.

"Look at him when he's talking to you!"

Wolf just smirked and looked at the girl with the same frightening glare he'd given Ramero's goons during his time in the labour camp, and it frightened her just as much.  
"Sorry, but taking orders from a little girl ain't my style. Hell, taking order from ANYBODY ain't my style."

He turned toward all the other people in the bar who were watching the scene play out in severe anxiousness.

"Hit the deck, folks." he announced. "This party's gettin' crazy."

Leon flipped up the table and disturbed the Luna Guard's guard for a few brief moments. More than enough time for Wolf to break free of the girl's hold and take up arms beside Leon.

"Mind if I join you boys?" asked Panther.

"You'd have to be insane to stick around for this, friend." Leon replied. "I mean, almost as insane as me."

"It seems more like an act if you ask me. Besides, Wolf and I broke out of a child labour camp by starting a full-scale riot. I think that meets the criteria for insanity."

"Well, are you prepared to do it again? You see, Panther, insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over again expecting things to change."

"Hmm…from what I gather, you boys got through worse than this and you've done it frequently. As for me, I've done ridiculous thing after ridiculous thing and gotten out fine. I must be pretty insane, too."

Leon smirked.

"I like you, Panther."

"Same here, Leon."

The small boy slashed through the table and charged at Panther with a loud roar. Panther promptly reeled his fist back and struck at the opportune moment, landing a perfect hit and knocking the boy off his feet.

"I'm not one to brag, but look at this." Panther mocked before flexing his arm. "You didn't really think you could just rush me and not expect this to do some damage, did you?"

The tall boy (who they now assumed was the leader of the group) brandished what seemed to be a small metal stick before pushing a button, at which time it extended into a long staff. He jabbed it at Wolf, who promptly grabbed the end of it and flipped it back at him with one hand, landing a solid hit against his face. When the boy stumbled, Wolf followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Meanwhile, the two girls rushed Leon, who withdrew a knife and blocked several strikes from the smaller girl's knife before seizing the taller girl's whip in mid-air.

"That's a sad fact of the typical dominatrix. They never expect the 'submissive' to fight back." Leon sighed before pulling hard on the whip, yanking its owner close enough for him to deliver a palm strike to her forehead.

The short boy drew one of his four blades and hurled it at Wolf like a boomerang. Wolf himself ducked underneath it and rolled forward as the boy swung another blade at him. He knew it was a cheap shot, but Wolf launched his fist upward and nailed the boy in the groin. The boy started gasping for breath and crumpled to his knees while Wolf stood up and unclipped one of the blades from the boy's belt.

"Don't mind if I borrow this, do you?"

The boy continued panting and simply glared up at Wolf with a look of pure venom. Wolf smirked.

"Didn't think so."

Wolf put the sword to good use almost immediately by blocking the tall boy's staff with it. A clash ensued in which they blocked and countered one another for several minutes, dodging whenever they could and keeping the gazes locked. What locked soon enough were their weapons, both trying to push the other away. The boy was shocked when Wolf overpowered him in a mere few seconds, shoving him backward and kicking him hard in the stomach.

"How you boys doing over there?!" Wolf called to his companions.

"Pretty good!" Leon called. "I think Panther's taken care of the dominatrix over here!"

And indeed he had, but in the strangest way possible. He had flicked out a rose and put it between his teeth before seizing the girl's hands and leading her in a swift and almost tango-like dance. She had no idea what was going and was too mesmerized by the seductive look in Panther's yellow eyes. He let out a low-pitched and sensual chuckle before twirling her into an embrace…and suplexing her into the ground.

"Jackpot, sweetheart!" he shouted enthusiastically as he slipped the rose out of his mouth.

The short boy had finally gotten up of the ground and grabbed his two remaining blades before planting his feet down in front of Panther and glaring at him menacingly. Panther himself scoffed and cracked his knuckles.

"I've shit things tougher than you, kid."

"Fuck you!"

"Temper, temper. Play nice now."

"Like you really stand a chance against me! What're you gonna do, beat me death with that flower?!"

"Don't be silly."

Panther reached up to the rose's head and suddenly pulled it off of the stem, revealing a slender yet sharp blade attached to it.

"I'll slit your throat with it…well, I would if you were worth that much."

The boy roared and slashed at Panther, who blocked the blow with his knife and jabbed forward, just barely making a small cut on the boy's chest. Leon meanwhile had his hands full with the knife-wielding girl who suddenly drew throwing stars from a pouch on her belt.

"Ah, throwing stars, eh?" Leon said mockingly. "Alright! C'mon, puppy! Let's go for a walk!"

"Die!" the girl yelled before throwing what seemed like a dozen of the stars at her target.

Leon rolled to the side, the stars shooting by him and implanting themselves into the wall.  
"Bad girl, puppy." he mocked. "Now I think someone needs to work on their aim. Hm? Who's gotta work on their aim? Who's gotta do it?"

"SHUT UP!" the girl yelled, slashing with her knife and missing yet again.

"You do!" Leon finished, sweep-kicking the girl's legs.

The tall girl had recovered from the blow Panther had dealt and rushed at him after he had picked the small boy up and slammed his back against a nearby pool table. Panther let out a small grunt of pain when the girl cast her whip and it wrapped around his neck, squeezing his throat and only getting worse the longer the girl held on. To Panther's disgust, she licked her lips.

"Now scream, little kitty. Scream for me!" she hissed sadistically.

Panther simply shot her a cocky glance.

"Oh…I'll scream, alright." he rasped. "HEADS UP!"

The girl turned her head just in time to see Wolf's fist right before it slammed into her face. The whip came loose and Panther massaged his throat for a moment before speaking.

"Phew…thanks, Wolf." he sighed. "Really looked like she was ready to snap my neck there."

"How about that? We're criminals and we're nowhere near as harsh as them."

"I'm a criminal?"  
"Well, they're bounty hunters which technically makes them enforcers of the law, and since you're fighting them after pissing them off, you're technically resisting arrest, let alone helping us do it."

"Then a criminal I'll stay. If these brats are enforcers of the law, then I'm a fuckin' virgin."

"…I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

The small girl got up and jumped onto Leon's shoulder, seemingly trying to squeeze his throat with her thighs.

"Hey, easy there, kid. We're crossing way too many boundaries here."

"Just shut up and die!"  
"Damn, and I thought I was the crazy one. Ah, well."

Leon rolled forward, slamming the girl against the ground and forcing all the air out of her lungs right as he was thwacked over the head by the tall boy's staff.

"And that's what you get for touchin' that, you slime." he growled, yelping when Wolf's hand clapped down on his shoulder.

"Kid, people don't say that anymore."

The boy was now on the receiving end of several jabs to the face that steadily grew faster and harder before he was knocked off his feet and against the nearby wall.

"Right then!" Wolf called. "Is that it? I could do this all night, pal!"

"ON THE GROUND, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" yelled the two girls.

"Yeah, how about…oh."

He realized they had spoken to Panther, both forcing him to the ground while the tall girl kept him pinned. With Leon's head still spinning from the nasty blow to it, the short boy and short girl seized Wolf form behind while the tall boy recovered and came forward with a very angry look. He grabbed Wolf's arm by the wrist and held it out in front of him before looking at the short boy and saying "Give me a blade." There was a laser sword in his hand almost instantly and it was less than an inch away from Wolf's skin.

"Now, before you die," the boy said to Wolf as though trying to sound scary. "I want you to think about every second you wasted of our time tonight."

Wolf stifled a laugh.

"Look who's talking…and you do know I have claws, right? Claws that happen to burying into your left arm right now and drawing a fairly large amount of blood?"

The tall boy screamed in agony and let go of Wolf's wrist, seeing that there were several bloody spots on his arm that were still leaking tremendously. He staggered backward for a brief moment before letting out a loud shout and barrelling toward Wolf with the sword raised above his head. In one swift movement, Wolf slammed his elbows into his captors' stomachs, brought the backs of his hands up and struck them hard in the face before pulling out his machine pistol and popping off a single shot at the tall boy. The boy screamed again and fell face first onto the ground, looking like he was about to burst into tears.

"Some bounty hunter." Wolf grunted. "I shot you in the foot and you're acting like I just sliced your arm off."

"You…I bet your whore mother is proud of you…"

"Whore mother? You don't know a thing about my mother but if you're calling me a son of a bitch, you wouldn't be the first."

"…well? What are you…waiting for…you gonna finish me off or what?"

"Do I look like a fucking demon to you? I wouldn't kill you even if you actually wanted me to."

"Why not…you'd dishonor me that much?!"

"Don't go talking about dishonour until you've actually learned what it is. I'm not going to kill you or your friends because you're still kids. You'll figure out that the kind of life you've chosen is only for the people who've got nothing to lose. Go home while you still can."

A quick and terrified gasp from the tall girl had indicated that Panther had successfully subdued her, proven when Wolf turned to find the former unconscious on the ground and the latter tucking his rose knife back into his pocket.

"Nicely done." said Wolf with a smirk.

"Would've been nicer if I didn't feel like a perverted teacher in a porno because good God, is that kid sadistic."

"You alright over there, Leon?"

Leon placed a hand on his forehead as he stood and shook himself back into reality.

"I'll give them one thing: they're vicious little rats…wow. This joint's owner's gonna be pissed."

"Bail?" asked Panther.

"I'm thinking bail."

And thus they bailed.

* * *

"Ow ow, hey!" Wolf yelped. "Easy!"

"I said this was gonna hurt, didn't I?" Panther replied. "I have to wire this thing to your nerves, for fuck's sake!"

"Even so, isn't there some kinda way you can EEEEYEOWHAHAAOW!"

Sneaking into a civilian's garage and using power tools to wire Panther's stolen machine into Wolf's body was probably not the safest idea, but Panther was no surgeon and it wasn't like they could fly down to Corneria and request someone to do it for them.

As Panther tightened one last screw, the machine made a loud beeping sound.

"What is that?" Wolf asked in moderate concern.

"Oh, nothing." Panther said in a nonchalant manner. "I just screwed up a vital nerve and you're going into cardiac arrest."

"Not funny."

"Not even a little?"

"No. Now what happened?"

"It means the system is coming online. It should activate right about…now."

All of a sudden, clear vision came to Wolf's ruined eye, and he was never happier to see in his life. He stood up from the chair he sat in and looked around the room. All sorts of symbols and information was being displayed in his eye, and it even showed a small profile when he hovered the reticle over Leon.

"Well…how do I look?" he asked.

Leon smiled.

"You don't exactly look tougher or anything, but it's better than only being able to see out one eye, right?"

"Whoa…it's even better than I thought. What is this thing, anyway?"

"It's a variation on the Solid Eye developed by Dr. Hal Emmerich." Panther answered. "The original model allowed the user to see things like footprints that would be otherwise invisible, measure things like a target's body temperature and heart rate, and see in the dark."

This idea immediately sprang to Wolf's mind as revolutionary upon remembering the skirmish on Fichina where Fox had hidden in the snow and ambushed hm. With this sort of contraption now being a part of his body, he no longer needed to worry about that happening again. Panther wasn't finished yet, however.

"This version still has those features, but I added some new ones."

"Like what?"

"Well, since it's directly wired to your brain, it has access to your memories. That's why you're seeing a profile of Leon on it right now. Best of all, even if you forget someone after meeting them, the Eye won't and will still display the information you forgot about."

"Nice. What else?"  
"It has a built-in radar system that can auto-locate anyone within the vicinity, but it doesn't work too well in caves or tunnels. I've still gotta work on that. And of course, it can be used to fix visual impairment."

Wolf smiled. This machine was like a miracle. Thanks to Panther's genius (as well as the genius of this "Hal Emmerich" who was more than likely an old man by now), he had been turned into a near-perfect hunter. He felt almost godly, and like a god, he was quick to offer a reward for Panther's act of kindness.

"So where will you go now?" Wolf asked.

"Not sure. I'm a drifter. I just go wherever the stars take me…as cheesy as that sounds."

"Do the stars forbid you from taking up a friend's offer?"

"What do you mean?"

Wolf held out his hand.

"You seem as eager to make a name for yourself as we do, Panther. So what do you say? Will you join Star Wolf?"

Panther stared at Wolf's hand in almost disbelief for a brief moment before looking at him as though he was going to burst out laughing.

"You named yourselves Star Wolf?"

Wolf rolled his eyes.

"It just kinda stuck."

Panther smirked, but nonetheless took the hand.

"I've got a good feeling about this."

* * *

_**Something I established in my mind while writing this chapter is that the overall story is told in arcs that link into one another. Each arc is at least three chapters long, and in total, there's about six arcs. This chapter was the first of the fourth arc, which (since Panther is now part of Star Wolf) is the Assault arc. Unfortunately, that also means the story's almost halfway done and I gotta start coming up with something brand new...I'm kidding. That's actually loads of fun.**_

_**I also wanted to say something about Panther: I feel he's gotten a bad rap throughout the series. Most people just seem to identify him as "that guy trying to wreck Fox and Krystal's relationship" and hate him because of it, and yeah, I frankly don't think he and Krystal would work well as a couple (so, yeah, FOX AND KRYSTAL 4 EVAR!), but I still think there's an interesting character in him. He shouldn't be slammed with hatred just because he gets between Fox and Krystal. And hey, there had to be some reason he always carries a rose around with him. It can't just be because he's a hopeless romantic...right?**_

_**Two questions to you guys, too. A) Reference get with the Solid Eye thing? B) Any guesses as to who Luke is? A ghost? Some random kid? Bruce Wayne?**_

**SOUNDTRACK SO FAR**

_Perking up the workers' spirits- _"Livin' On the Edge" by Aerosmith

_Nina's lullaby- _"Shenandoah" by Hayley Westenra

_The escape plan- _"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC

_The death of Nina and Rodrick- _"Watch Me Bleed" by Scary Kids Scaring Kids

_No comfort for the weak and wounded- _"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

_Escaping Macbeth-_ "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell

_The Stray Dog- _"I Remember" by deadmau5

_Wolf and Leon- _"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

_Standoff at the Stray Dog- _"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

_Poker night in Hell- _"Black Rain" by Soundgarden

_Running as fast as God will let him-_"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden

_Standoff on Papetoon- _"Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

_Lost an eye and left to die- _"Lost and Found" by Senses Fail

_Wolf and James- _"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas

_Another father gone- _"Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park

_Enter Star Wolf- _Star Wolf theme

_Star Wolf versus the Luna Guard- _"Modern Day Cowboy" by Tesla


	12. 11: A Long-Awaited Second Bout

CHAPTER ELEVEN

**A Long-Awaited Second Bout**

**One week later**

**En route to Sargasso Space Station**

Needless to say, Panther fit right in with the other two renegades. He could handle himself in a fight, he contributed a lot to any potential plans the group would put into action, and his mechanical smarts helped them out on more than one occasion. One of his biggest contributions was the location of an abandoned space station between the Meteo asteroid belt and Katina. It had been taken over by a large band of rebels who seemed to look upon Wolf and Leon as idols, and thus it was the perfect place to hide out and plan their next move. The rebels were what little remained of the Venomian Army and were happy to watch the base while the team was out as long as they received a fraction of whatever Star Wolf raked in, and with the kind of jobs they took in, paying the rookies' wages was an easy task.

What wasn't an easy task was counting on them to repel whatever threat would come to the hideout. At the moment, the three renegades were speeding back to the base as fast as they could. Why? Simple: they had received a distress call warning them that Star Fox had arrived in the area, and considering that Star Wolf had both a new member and an upgrade to an original one, they felt more than ready.

"Be careful, Panther." Wolf warned. "They're fast and deadly."

"Remember what I said to that bitch in the Luna Guard the other day?"  
"You like it rough?"

"Yep. They can hit me with all they've got. I'll still come back swinging in one way or another."

Leon smirked.  
"I'll tell ya who comes out swinging: Lombardi. That guy's got such a short fuse that it's actually kind of funny."  
"Yeah." replied Wolf. "From what I understand, he's got a reputation of being a lovable dick."

"That's what she said."  
"And that doesn't sound the least bit juvenile to you…or have you just always wanted to say that?"

"Well, what the hell do you think?"

Panther flipped a few switches and the renegades could now hear precisely what Star Fox was talking about. Something surprised them almost right away. Thanks to Wolf's Solid Eye, he was able to see that there were two of the mercenaries inside the base already, realizing that they were Fox and Slippy after looking them over long enough. There were two more Arwings swerving around the outside, but when Wolf heard Peppy's voice, he realized that it hadn't come from either of them, thus giving him an interesting revelation.

"They've got a new member." he announced.

"So do we. We'll be fine." Leon replied.

"Yeah…but who in the world would join up with them on such short notice?"

"Hey, looks who's talking about short notice." Panther chuckled.

Peppy's voice crackled on the communications line.

"Well done, Fox! This means we can take control of the hideout!"  
"Not on my watch." Wolf said aloud.

"Boss!" cried one of the ruffians that guarded the hideout. "You're here!"

The second they heard Wolf's voice, every single one of the Star Fox members gritted their teeth.

"Wolf?!" Fox sputtered.

"Aaaaaah, shit…" Slippy moaned. "I told you guys they'd show up sooner or later."

The three Wolfens swerved around the hideout, firing blasts at the two Arwings to temporarily keep them from getting any closer to the base.

"What're you idiots up to now?" Wolf growled.

"That any your business, O'Donnell?" Falco shot back.

"Believe it or not, it is. You're on our turf now, so watch your step, Star Fox."

Leon swerved up alongside Falco and shot him a smirk.  
"Been a long time, Lombardi. How's that dirty mouth of yours?"

"Fan-fuckin'-tastic as you can plainly hear. Got a problem with it?"

"Nah. I'm just thinking I'll torment you a bit before I cook you."

"Great…who's the cat?"

Panther chuckled under his breath.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Panther, and all who see my rose meet death."

It took Falco a moment to realize that there was indeed a rose stencilled onto the hull of Panther's ship. He rolled his eyes in response.  
"Perfect. Heads up, Krystal. We've got a 'womanizer' on our hands."

"Who's Krystal?" Wolf demanded.

An Arwing swerved up alongside Wolf, who took a good look at the pilot and was mesmerized to say the least. In the ships was a twenty-something vixen with blue-and-white fur, large teal eyes and what seemed to be a tiara on her forehead that was hidden behind shoulder-length blue hair. All in all, she was so beautiful that it seemed almost unnatural, and this was only enhanced when she spoke in an accented voice.

"I am." she said. "So you're Wolf O'Donnell, eh? I must say that I've heard a lot about you from Fox."

Wolf smirked.

"Really now? What might that be?"  
"He said you're far more honourable than you look. I can only hope he's right."

"Care to find out?"

Fox scoffed on the other end of the comm line before interrupting their conversation.

"Look, we're just here for Pigma, okay? Shut your traps and hand him over!"

Wolf could swear that a vein in his temple had nearly burst after he had heard that name. He hadn't seen Pigma since the Fichina skirmish, and rightfully so. There was no way Pigma would show his face around Wolf after what had happened, but Wolf still grew angry whenever he heard that name. All he thought about upon hearing it was a greedy, selfish and generally nauseating creep who frankly should have been arrested and either put to death or banished to Kew a long time ago. At least then Wolf would never have had the displeasure of working alongside him…at least then…James would still be…

He shook the thoughts out. Fox was his concern, not Pigma.

"Don't know anything about him. Don't care, either." he finally responded. "But there is one thing."

He swerved toward the entrance of the base at lightning speed, his jaw clenched to its fullest pressure.

"I'm owed an apology, and I WILL have it!"

"We come here to fight you, Wolf!" Fox growled.

"That's easy to say after all you've done. Enough small talk! Get out here and fight, Fox!"

"It's unavoidable, Fox!" said Peppy from wherever he was. "They're not gonna let us leave until you give him what he wants!"  
"Oh, I'll give him what he wants, alright."

Fox's Arwing shot out of the base's hanger bay and rocketed toward Wolf.

"I'll give him his second ass-kicking in a row."

"Hey, look on the bright side." Leon mocked. "It ain't a personal vendetta this time….well, it isn't for you, anyway."

"Yo! Lizard boy!" Falco shouted. "I'm your target here! You and me! Nobody else! We're havin' it out!"

"You do realize that you're essentially asking me to kill you, right?"

"Doesn't matter! Let's go!"

And then it was chaos. The three ships swerved all about the area, firing at one another whenever they could and staying evasive when they needed to. There was one problem that Wolf caught on to almost right away. Even though he had gotten tougher since the last battle, so had Fox. It wasn't like it was that unexpected since Fox was a grown adult now and not a teenager, but Fox's experience was really starting to shine through now that he was under threat. It was like there had been a whole chapter of missions that toughened Fox up which Wolf had missed. Not to mention, where in the world did Krystal come from?

None of that mattered. What did matter was what was happening now, and what was happening now was a dogfight that required Wolf's full attention. When Fox swerved off to the right, Wolf followed closely behind, locking onto his rival and letting fly with a charged shot. As expected, Fox timed his barrel roll perfectly and deflected it and, as expected, he looped up and over Wolf.

"Pfft! I know this routine."

He slammed on the brakes and U-turned back toward Fox.

"Shit!" Fox yelped before dropping down ward and zooming away.

"What's the problem?" Wolf mocked. "You done already?"

"Not a chance. I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Really now? This isn't just a big show-off to your girlfriend over there?"

"Shut up!"

Falco swerved out of the way as Leon barrelled toward him, nearly scraping the side of his Arwing against his attacker's Wolfen as he did so.

"Sheesh, what is this?" Falco grumbled. "A freakin' bullfight?!"

"Well, you know what happens to those who mess with the bull, I assume."

"Yeah."

Falco locked onto Leon's ship and slammed a large red button over his head.

"They neuter the sucker!"

A small red sphere went flying out of Falco's cannon and surged toward Leon. He recognized it in an instant as a smart bomb and immediately grew a bit concerned for both his safety and Falco's sanity. A smart bomb was only something pilots used to clear out a large numbers of bogies and was usually never something to be used during a dogfight.

Whether Leon was concerned about this or not, it didn't matter since he knew the perfect maneuver to get around it and immediately put it into action, quickly spinning his ship around and firing a charged shot at the bomb, detonating it in mid-flight.

"A grand waste of resources." Leon said. "Tsk, tsk, Falco. I thought you'd have learned from your impulsiveness by now."

"Wha…okay, maybe launching a smart bomb at one guy is a little extreme."

"A LITTLE extreme? Those things are tiny nukes, for goodness sake! Are you blind?"

"Eyes of an eagle, pal. I can see you coming from miles away."

"I thought you were a falcon."

"It's a figure of speech, idiot."

"Figure? Is this like an action figure?"

"You know what I mean, you douchebag!"

"Language, young man."

Falco roared and rocketed toward Leon again, only to be blocked by Panther.

"'The hell do you want, kitty boy?!" Falco growled.

"I'd like to get in on some of this if you don't mind."

"Three's a crowd! Get lost!"

"Only if there's more than one man involved."

"…okay, seriously. What am I supposed to say to that?"

"Nothing. You're supposed to lie down and take it like a man in a manner of speaking."

"That's what she said…but hey, if you both wanna come at me and try to take me down, bring it on! I'll send you both to Kingdom Come in a box!"

"Could be fun."

Fox and Wolf circled around the base, chasing one another and firing whenever they could. Wolf's Solid Eye had kicked into high gear. Just as he had hoped, he could see through just about any surface, leaving no place for Fox to hide from him. However, even though Wolf had eliminated the issue of Fox's stealth, his speed was still unmatched.

"Heh. You've gotten better, pup."

"You, too…hey, wait a second, 'pup'? What kinda nickname is 'pup'?"

"Consider it derogatory, then. By the way, think fast."

To Wolf's triumph, he managed to land a hit on the underside of Fox's right wing, shaking the Arwing slightly and kicking Fox's awareness into high gear. Little did Wolf know he was about to feel the same sensation when Krystal dove in out of nowhere.

"Paws off my boy!" she yelled before pushing down on her fire button.

Wolf swerved off to the side just as Krystal unloaded on him.

"Quite a woman you got there, McCloud." he chuckled. "Where'd you pick her up?"

"Sauria…and what do you mean 'picked up'?!" Fox replied.

"Her diving in and saving your ass can't be a coincidence. This girl's looking out for you."

Fox flushed bright red while Krystal gave an amused chuckle.

"That sounds about right." she agreed.

"Hey, don't encourage him!" Fox stammered.

"YO!" yelled Falco. "The guy's trying to kill you, Fox. Get your head in the game!"

"Your care for your allies is good, I'll give you that." Panther joked.

Falco swerved up and around a large bit of debris that floated around, trying to get the two renegades off of his tail without success. He utilized some quick and tricky maneuvers to try and escape from them, but they always seemed to catch up no matter how fast or evasive he was. Falco lurched forward when Panther's laser slammed into the back of his Arwing, heavily scorching it.

"Shit. I ate that one…" he grumbled.

"Hey, Star Wolf!" yelled a voice from a different end of the line. "Who's a basket case now?!"

Much to everyone's surprise, a fourth Arwing swerved in and blasted Leon's Wolfen in the rear, sending sparks shooting from its engine and rendering the cannons useless.

"What the...me?!" he sputtered. "I got taken down by Toad?! ME?!"

"Phew! Nice goin', Slippy." Falco breathed. "They almost had me there."

"See, Falco? I'm useful!" Slippy cheered.

"Yeah…for once."

"Ah, cut me a break, will ya?"

"SLIPPY, LOOK OUT!" cried Krystal.

Panther swerved in and crashed headlong into Slippy's Arwing, utterly ruining it but leaving his Wolfen entirely intact.

"Mess with me or anyone on my team and your life's as good as gone."

"Umm…ow?"

"It's gonna be a lot worse than 'ow', frog."

It certainly seemed like it would be a lot worse than 'ow' as Panther charged up his laser and prepared to open fire when…

"Many, you haven't changed a bit, frog boy." Falco laughed. "Hang on, I gotcha."

Panther had no time to react when Falco zoomed in and disabled him in the same way that Slippy had disabled Leon, then zoomed out and let Panther sit there to eat his dust.

"How could this be?! I…I've been…"

"See? It ain't easy fighting these guys." Leon said.

"Shit…I think I've found myself an enemy."

At last, there was only Wolf as he did battle with Fox and Krystal. Wolf himself grew incredibly dismayed upon seeing that his teammates were down for the count, but he managed to surprise both Fox and his female comrade as he slipped between their barrages of lasers and ascended the side of the base.

"Hey! I thought we were fighting!" Fox called.

"We are. Stop being lazy and come after me."

"Who're you calling 'lazy'?!"  
"Uh, that would be you. Or do you have short-term memory loss, too?"

Fox grunted in disdain before slamming on his boost pedal and shooting after Wolf, Krystal following in his wake. They continued to follow him, picking up speed as he did so, but once he went over the top, he swerved to the right and out of sight.

"Wha…where'd he go?!" Fox sputtered.

"Wait…he's coming up behind us! Charged shots are inbound!"

"How the fuck did she know that?!" Wolf thought in shock.

Wolf had indeed snuck up behind the two of them and fired charged shots, but how Krystal had noticed that was beyond him. From what his eye could show, she hadn't even turned her head the slightest degree. Maybe it was some sort of instinct of hers.

"Correct, Wolf. It is an instinct."

"Not that I'm trying to divert the conversation away from what we should be worrying about, but did you just read my mind?!"

"Yes, and that mind is seriously considering giving up….right now!"

In the few seconds Wolf had sat there in bewilderment, Falco and Slippy had snuck up behind him, both prepared to fire on him. He bit his lip and cursed himself in his mind. Had he just lost to Fox McCloud AGAIN?! And that was excusing the fact that he didn't even have a chance to fist fight him like last time.

Wolf groaned in disgust.

"Alright. That's enough for now, Fox."

"Good choice." Fox replied. "Now hand over Pigma already!"

"Pigma's no longer part of Star Wolf, and if he'd shown his filthy hide around here, our boys in there would have driven him out."

"But…" Krystal spoke up. "Then where did he go?"

At that moment, Panther and Leon had swerved up next to their leader, their ships still throwing out sparks. Panther had taken that moment to look to his side and spot Krystal sitting in her Arwing. To say the least, he liked what he saw.

"Ah, the lovely Krystal. Words do you no justice."

"Very nice." Krystal said before rolling her eyes. "And you are?"

"I'm Panther Caroso, and here's to us."

Falco lowered his forehead into his palm.

"Ah, jeez, where'd you two dig this idiot up?" he groaned.

"Quiet, bird."  
"What was that?!"

"Forget him, Falco!" Krystal piped up. "Look, Panther, just tell us where Pigma is."

At first Wolf had thought that Panther was just trying to stir up trouble and still be the suave and cool fellow he always was, but the manner in which he responded left him with a very odd and somewhat uncomfortable revelation.

"How can I resist this beauty? I believe…"

"Hold on there, Panther." Wolf interrupted. "What do you need Pigma for, anyway?"

"You know those weird bug-like things that have been popping up a lot recently?" Slippy asked.

"The Aparoids? Sure."

"Well, we found something from one of them, but Pigma swooped in and stole it from us before we could get a chance to study it."

"Ya really had to tell him that, huh, Slip?" Falco moaned.

Wolf mulled it over in his head. The idea of assisting Star Fox without the promise of a reward wasn't the most attractive idea, but it was Pigma they were going after. He hadn't even thought that Pigma was still alive after this long. In any case, Fox would definitely want to put Pigma in his place. Besides, what good would holding the truth from him do?

"Alright, Panther. Tell 'em."

"I was looking through our base's com record, and I believe it'll point you toward Fichina."

"Thank you, Panther." Krystal said as politely as she could, though clearly being put off by his flirtatious behaviour.

Wolf cracked his neck.  
"You 're done here. Now get lost."

The four Arwings turned and began returning from the way they came, but Wolf had time to say one last thing.

"Just remember this, Fox: I WILL take you down one day."

Fox smirked.

"Only time will tell. See you around, Eagle Eye."

Wolf's ears pricked up at that name, but he had no time to respond as Fox and the rest of his team zoomed away.

"Eagle Eye?" Leon repeated. "Where'd he get that idea?"

All at once, Wolf found himself smiling. The only person left alive who had ever heard that name was Peppy, and seeing how close Fox and Peppy were…

He sighed.

"What is it, Wolf?" Panther asked.

"Nothin'…just feeling a little nostalgic."

"…huh. That's kind of off."

"Hey, you're the one who was flirting with someone from the rival team."

"Well, you saw her, too!"

He had indeed seen Krystal, and boy was she something else. Her beauty left zero to the imagination, as did her flying skills and willingness to help her allies. There was one thing that bothered him about her. How was it that she could read minds? Maybe it had just been a lucky guess that he was sneaking up on them, but…no. How would she know how he was going to attack her and Fox? How could she know exactly what he was thinking? The supernatural was something Wolf never believed in. He didn't believe in ghosts, deities or anything of the sort. When he thought on it, however, he saw that many unexplainable things had happened in the past little while. There was Krystal and before that there was…

"Damn…this galaxy is a mad, mad place."


End file.
